Perceptions from food insecure guests about a community café in Texas

• In Event: 30821 - Open Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 9

Abstract

Community cafés are traditional restaurants that use a pay-what-you-can model to build local community and offer high-quality, nutritious meals. The pay-what-you-can model allows guests to choose to: pay what they feel the meal is worth, pay more, or pay less. This model addresses food security, but unlike traditional forms of charitable food provision, is not designated exclusively for those in need but brings together all members of the local community. This research explored the perceptions of food insecure guests at a Ft. Worth, TX café. Adult guests (>18 years old) with food insecurity (n=39) per the U.S. Household Food Security Survey were asked about their likes and dislikes regarding the café, its impact on their diet, and how the café has helped them. Most participants identified as male (80%), and Black (43%) followed by White (38%). Inductive content analysis was performed and generated four main themes: Four thematic areas were constructed from the data: improved access to meals, and improved diet quality and balance, improved mental health, and policies regarding unhoused guests. Based on participant responses, the café model has the potential to address food security through improving food access and to improve diet quality.

Authors

• Andrew Craig McNeely, University of Texas at Dallas

• Lori Borchers, Texas Christian University

• Erika Largacha Cevallos, Texas A&M AgriLife Research

• Victoria Trevino, victoria.trevino@ag.tamu.edu

• Alisha George, Texas A&M AgriLife Research

• Rebecca Seguin-Fowler, Texas A&M AgriLife

• Heather A Eicher-Miller, Purdue University

• Alexandra MacMillan Uribe, Texas A&M AgriLife Research