CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Doctors behind a unique type of food pantry at the University of Chicago are hoping that a spike in use in recent months sends a clear message to other food pantries as well as policymakers.
“Feed1st is a no-questions-asked, open access, self-serve food pantry program at the University of Chicago Medicine.”
Dr. Cristianne Frazier is Manager of Feed1st, which has been around for several years, and saw its distribution rates more than double between March of 2020 and November of 2021.
“We think that there’s something going on here with this open access, no-questions-asked model that is facilitating use compared to traditional, questions-asked models.”
Frazier said big issues are the stigma around food insecurity and policies that prohibit pantries to receive food from the federal government and from adopting no-questions-asked policies of their own.
“Our hypothesis is that if you reduce the barriers and reduce the stigma by not asking any questions and letting people just help themselves, you will distribute more food.”
The team now plans to research the full impact of the Feed1st program and how it can be expanded.
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