Addressing Food Insecurity with a School Food Pantry

This article provides a six-step process for setting up a food pantry in your school to become a first line of defense in supporting food-insecure students in your community. Read on for additional links and resources, plus download an exclusive leader’s guide to accompany the children’s book Lulu and the Hunger Monster™, the perfect read-aloud resource to build awareness and empathy on the pervasive issue of food insecurity.

Benefits of a School Food Pantry

According to the USDA, more than 12 million children in the United States live in a food-insecure household that has limited access to adequate food during the year. Schools can support children and their families by being a place where children get not only the education that helps their brains develop, but also the food that helps brains and bodies grow.

When kids have access to healthy meals every day, they feel better, do better in school, and have fewer behavior problems. They have what they need to grow and just be kids. The national school breakfast and lunch programs are a tremendous part of the effort to make sure kids thrive, but when school is over for the day or when the school week ends, many families need assistance filling the gaps.

Schools are a natural fit for food pantries—they provide an easy-to-access location that parents and students feel comfortable in and regularly visit. While some parents might not be able to visit traditional food pantries because of distribution times or locations, in most cases school pantries distribute food at the end of the day when parents are already at the school to pick up their children.

A school food pantry initiative is also a way for those who do not experience food insecurity to grow in awareness and empathy around the issue. So perhaps now is the time to consider a school pantry program if your school does not already run one! Food pantries in schools can connect kids and their families with the healthy food they need during the weekend, too. And by including a food pantry at your school, you will be in good company. Every year, school food pantries serve 21 million meals to nearly 110,000 children.

How to Set Up a School Food Pantry

You can partner with a local food bank to provide access to food for children and their families after the school day has ended. School administrators, food bank staff, and parents work together to set up the pantries, which generally distribute fresh fruit and vegetables as well as canned foods. Some schools provide a dedicated space for the pantry where families can walk through and pick out their food. Others distribute pre-packed bags of food.

Here are six steps for setting up a food pantry at your school.

Step 1

Identify the adults who will be responsible for the overall effort (gathering donations, ordering from a food bank, coordinating delivery to the school, safe storage, distribution, recordkeeping, and so on).

Step 2

Secure your school administration’s support for the project.

Step 3

Identify where in the school nonperishable foods will be stored and distributed. Consider these questions

• Is the space secure from theft? Tampering? Contamination from chemicals, water, etc.?

• Can the food be stored appropriately—clean, dry, cool, off the ground, and at least six inches away from walls?

• Is shelving needed? Do you have a cart to move food? A scale?

Step 4

Devise a plan and a schedule for distribution. What days will you distribute food and supplies? What times?

Consider requiring families or students (if in high school) to bring a referral from counseling or administrative staff to get food. Be sure to protect their identities from other students and families, and protect their privacy in seeking emergency food assistance, in carrying food home, and so on.

Step 5

Develop a plan for how you will notify families, students, and the school community about the emergency food assistance available at school. Consider these items

• When/how often will you share the information with the school community?

• How will you share it? Flyers? Posters? Articles in your newsletter?

• How will you familiarize school staff with the program so they can refer students who may need food assistance?

Step 6

Consider enlisting student groups, clubs, or classes to collaborate on the project. These groups can

• organize food drives to refill shelves in the pantry

• sort and shelve foods

• periodically take inventory and discard expired products

Promoting Community Awareness

Before, during, and after your work of setting up a school food pantry, community education is essential. Equip teachers and parents with resources to have discussions with students about food insecurity to build equity and awareness and empower kids who may need help to speak up.

Lulu and the Hunger Monster is a children’s book about a little girl facing the fearful and invisible force of food insecurity. I was inspired to write Lulu and the Hunger Monster from my work with families and children experiencing food insecurity. The book personifies hunger, often invisible and kept quiet, to destigmatize insecurity and make hunger more visible.

If you want to help feed kids during the school year, consider setting up a pantry at your school and working with your local food bank to start it. Also, check out this link to get model emails, presentations, and templates for starting a school food pantry, and download the free action pack. Combine your efforts with education to build awareness and empathy within your community.