Diverse Parents’ Perception of the Impact of COVID-19 on Their Families’ Experience of Food Security

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted food insecurity and to identify food assistance interventions that should be sustained post-COVID-19, as recommended by racially/ethnically diverse caregivers from multiple food security statuses. Qualitative interviews were conducted virtually with mothers (n = 40) during March-May 2021 in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Study results suggest that emergency interventions developed during COVID-19 (e.g. Pandemic EBT, SNAP expansions) have been beneficial in improving families’ access to food. However, more research is needed to understand the various barriers that exist in making food more accessible for families most at risk of experiencing food insecurity.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• Food insecurity
• Food assistance programs
• Qualitative

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability Statement

Deidentified data may be made available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.

IRB Approval

The University of Minnesota’s Institutional Review Board Human Subjects Committee approved all protocols used in the this study. Participants were consented before any data collection.

Supplementary Data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2024.2348560

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by grant number R01HL126171, R01HL156994 and R01HL160587 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (PI: Jerica Berge). In addition, this research was supported by the Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives Institute, University of Minnesota. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute or the National Institutes of Health.