Tom McLaughlin’s work analyzing food pantry data covered by Bangor Daily News

The reported on Nov. 25, 2011 that UNE Professor of Social Work Thomas Chalmers McLaughlin, Ph.D., is working on an analysis of data that was compiled by social workers that is expected to be the first in-depth study of food pantry users in Maine.

Community organizers with Preble Street and AmeriCorps Vista volunteers surveyed food pantry recipients in the 24 towns of Cumberland County, representing 700 households and 1,700 people. The questions were presented in seven languages at 38 food pantries, and individuals in the respondent households ranged in age from infancy to 82 years old.

She said 52 percent of the family representatives who pick up food at Cumberland County food pantries are working, while 75 percent of those picking up food for families “make difficult decisions not to purchase food in order to cover other essentials such as medications, heating fuel and rent.”

Yellen said her staff, volunteers and McLaughlin will spend the next “couple of weeks” cross-referencing the responses collected during the study to identify more trends.
 

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