Housing Affordability, Social Policy and Economic Conditions: Food Bank Users in the Greater Toronto Area, 1990-2000
Description:
THE SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON POVERTY and social policy has been dominated by analyses of the "welfare state" and formal government programs, while less attention has been focussed on charitable organizations or non-profit sector suppliers such as food banks (Esping-Andersen, 1996; Hicks, 1999; Mitchell, 1991; Myles, 1996). The social welfare policy literature contains numerous studies that examine the impacts of a range of income security programs, particularly those that focus on social assistance (Bane and Ellwood, 1994; Danziger, 1989; Duncan et al., 1995; Kenworthy, 1999; Lewis, 2001; McFate et al., 1995; Sandefur and Cook, 1998; Vartanian and McNamara, 2000). In contrast, the role of the nonprofit sector or the "social economy" in helping to meet the subsistence needs of the poor has received much less scholarly attention (Quarter, 1992; cf. Cnaan and Handy, 2000). An area that has been largely neglected concerns food banks, which arguably have become an increasingly important support mechanism for those in need since the first such Canadian organization appeared in Edmonton in 1981 (Riches, 1986a). Any number of important sociological questions can be asked in regard to food banks, which were designed initially as an emergency response to help those without sufficient welfare and other cash income to meet their basic needs (Curtis and McClellan, 1995; Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society, 1989). The current paper, however, focusses specifically on the impacts of certain structural conditions and social policy changes on the economic plight of low-income households who access food banks as an economic survival strategy. (excerpt from the article)
Type of Resource:
Journal
Publication Date:
2003
Volume:
40
Location:
Toronto