DOI: 10.17603/ds2-sqrq-jv57
title: Food Aid Agency Survey Instrument
title: in Food Access Impact Survey for Harris County and Southeast Texas after Hurricane Harvey in 2017

description: Food insecurity is a chronic problem in the United States that annually affects over 40 million people under normal conditions. This difficult reality can dramatically worsen after disasters. Such events can disrupt both the supply and demand sides of food systems, restricting food distribution and access precisely when households are in a heightened need for food assistance. Often, retailers and food banks must react quickly to meet local needs under difficult post-disaster circumstances. Residents of Harris County and Southeast Texas experienced this problem after Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast in August 2017. The primary data collected by this project relate specifically to the supply side. The data attempt to identify factors that impacted the ability of suppliers to help ensure access to food, with a focus on fresh food access. Factors included impacts to people, property and products due to hurricane-related damage to infrastructure. Two types of food suppliers were the foci of this research: food aid agencies and food retailers. The research team examined food aid agencies in Southeast Texas with data collection methods that included secondary data analysis, a focus group and an online survey. The second population studied was food retailers with in-person surveys with store managers. Food retailers were randomly sampled in three Texas counties: Jefferson, Orange, and Harris. The data collection methods resulted in 32 food aid agency online survey responses and 210 completed food retail in-person surveys. Data were collected five to eight months after the event, which helped to increase the reliability and validity of the data. The time-sensitive nature of post-disaster data requires research teams to quickly organize their efforts before entering the field. The purpose of this project archive is to share the primary data collected, document methods, and to help future research teams reduce the amount of time needed for project development and reporting. This archive does not contain Personally or Business Identifiable Information.
description: The food aid agency survey design was informed by the focus group discussion and aimed to gain quantitative data from all food aid agencies affiliated or associated with the Southeast Texas Food Bank. A list of affiliated food aid agencies, their managers, and email addresses was obtained from the Southeast Texas Food Bank. The list included the 89 food aid agencies active in Southeast Texas prior to Hurricane Harvey. Each of these food aid agencies was emailed a personalized invitation to the online survey. The survey of food aid agencies was conducted online using the survey software program Qualtrics XM (Qualtrics, 2019). The online surveys integrated data collected from the Southeast Texas Food Bank Primarius system to tailor specific questions to specific food aid agencies. The survey was designed to collect information on (1) physical damage to the food aid agency, disruption or damage to infrastructure, and transportation and access problems; (2) impact on workers or volunteers; and (3) disruptions to operations and inventory, which included changes in the food distribution schedule, food categories distributed, and sources of food.