{
  "abstract": "Background In response to rising food insecurity, various community shop models offer food in exchange for a pay-per-use membership fee. However, effectiveness of such models in tackling food insecurity remains underexplored. This study evaluated the impact of having and using a membership in the Your Local Pantry (YLP) network on food insecurity among households applying for memberships across England.Methods A quasi-experimental study over February to August 2025 recruited new YLP membership applicants. Applicants either acquired a YLP membership and used it, were granted a membership but did not use it, or were put on a waiting list due to some pantries being oversubscribed. Baseline questionnaire collected data on sociodemographic characteristics and food insecurity. Food insecurity was measured using a validated 8-item US Department of Agriculture scale. Follow-up measures were taken at 2, 6 and 10 weeks. A fixed effects linear regression assessed the impact of gaining membership and making pantry visits on food insecurity over 10 weeks.Results A total of 216 individuals from 83 pantries were recruited. Of which, 59%, 38%, and 2% were 18-44-year-olds, 45-64-year-olds, and ≥65-year-olds, respectively. Higher proportion of the participants were women (78.7%), of White ethnicity (74.5%), and reported having kids (52.8%). Forty percent of participants earned ≤£1000/month, with 12.5% of these earning ≤£400/month. At baseline, 83% of participants were experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity. Preliminary analyses suggest that compared to those who were not granted or did not use their membership, gaining a membership and using a pantry was associated with a 15.9 percentage point decline in food insecurity (95%CI: -29.7% to -2.23%).Conclusion Preliminary analyses suggest that using a YLP food pantry reduces food insecurity compared to applicants not granted memberships or not making use of a new membership. Further analyses will explore impacts on mental wellbeing and social outcomes.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Suruchi G Ganbavale"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Economics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Thijs van Rens"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre for Public Health & Policy, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Oyinlola Oyebode"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Natasha Bayes"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Rachel Loopstra"
    }
  ],
  "title": "P03-4 Evaluating the impact of food pantry membership on food insecurity amongst English households: a national-level quasi-experimental study",
  "uid": "ec862ca0-7e3a-500b-b226-c8aa14a1cfe2"
}