Sponsor
Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning
First Advisor
Karen Seccombe
Term of Graduation
Winter 2006
Date of Publication
Winter 12-4-2006
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Urban Studies
Department
Urban Studies
Language
English
Subjects
Welfare recipients -- Oregon, Food relief -- Oregon, Food supply -- Oregon, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Program)
Physical Description
1 online resource (2, vii, 205 pages)
Abstract
Food security, as defined in the U.S., means access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Examining the risk factors and consequences of food insecurity for those who leave Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) has practical implications, but empirical research has lagged behind theory. This study tested the Campbell Model of Food Insecurity (1991), a previously untested theoretical model, in a sample of TANF leavers in Oregon (n=637 Wave 1, n=552 Wave 2). Additionally, a qualitative examination of Oregon Food Bank workers, Oregon's largest charitable emergency food organization, was conducted to gather insight about how food insecurity is affecting their organization and their clients.
Results of the structural equation modeling analyses addressing three risk items (financial hardship, income and education) and three health items (physical health, mental health and activities of daily living) suggested that (a) higher levels of financial hardship and lower levels of income and education led to poorer physical health, mental health, and diminished activities of daily living due to health; (b) higher levels of financial hardship---but not income or education---led to food insecurity; (c) higher levels of food insecurity led to poorer physical health, mental health, and diminished activities of daily living due to health; and (d) food insecurity did not mediate the relationships between the three risk items and the three health items with one exception: in the cross-sectional model of Wave 2 data, food insecurity mediated the relationship between financial hardship and all three health outcomes.
Themes that emerged from the exploratory and descriptive case study of Oregon Food Bank personnel echo these results. Interviews were analyzed using content analysis and seven themes emerged as important facets or concerns for their work. Respondents universally agreed that food insecurity was adversely affecting the health of their clients and reported ways in which they are attempting to ameliorate these connections. Respondents also reported on conflicts they have encountered in trying to address the agency's two aims: feeding the hungry and addressing the root causes of hunger.
Rights
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Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/43050
Recommended Citation
Hoffman, Kim A., "Food Insecurity and Oregon Tanf Leavers" (2006). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 6763.
Comments
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