Institutional Cultural Competency of Emergency Food Providers During the Recession
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Date
2016-03
Authors
Sobotka, Nina
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Between 2000 and 2010, the Latino population's growth counted for over half of
the overall population growth in the U.S. Emergency food providers were unprepared
for the increase in Latinos' needs for emergency food assistance. Emergency food
providers demonstrated mixed levels of institutional cultural competency in their
attempts to meet Latinos' needs immediately before, during, and after the most recent
economic recession. The increased demand for emergency food during the recession
encouraged Feeding America and its network members to dedicate more resources to
increasing the amount of food distributed than to making services more accessible and
culturally acceptable for Latinos. One food bank in Oregon created an outreach program
to increase Latinos' access to its services, made Latinos' needs institutional priorities,
and thus increased its institutional cultural competency. Its progress proved exceptional
because most providers did not significantly increase their institutional cultural
competency. The lessons from emergency food providers' shortcomings during the
recession inform recommendations of what those providers must do in the future to
increase Latinos' access to both emergency and non-emergency food services.
Description
106 pages. A thesis presented to the Department of History and the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Arts, Spring 2016.
Keywords
Agriculture, Food banks, Latino, Cultural competency, Emergency food, Social services, Economic recession