Mutual aid food sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tompkins County, NY
In times of crisis and disaster, government and charitable organizations cannot always respond quickly or adequately enough. Mutual aid (MA) is a grassroots response to immediate needs among community members. Food sharing is a key component of MA systems. Most MA systems occur in urban areas, and there is almost no information about the impacts of MA food sharing on community residents.
For MA food sharing to thrive, it needs to be more broadly understood and supported. Students can participate in and provide support by applying their skills in system thinking, data collection, and analysis.
An estimated 250,000 food servings are shared monthly through Mutual Aid Tompkins. Community residents report that the food is acceptable and easily accessed and that it improves their food security. Collaboratively with MA food-sharing leaders, Dr. Hanson and her students generated some of the first systematic evidence about MA food-sharing in rural and micropolitan areas (synthesized into a case study freely available here).
MPH and undergraduate students were active participants in Mutual Aid Tompkins from 2020-23. They developed flyers and fact sheets about MA food sharing, conducted interviews with cabinet hosts, participated in volunteer meetings, collected observational and survey data, analyzed data and presented it to volunteers, and drafted two award-winning proposals for local funding of MA food sharing.