IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i22p9617-d1514065.html

Perspectives on Evaluation of Food Banks

Author

Listed:
  • Nuria Abrahão Chaim

    (Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, State University of Campinas (Unicamp), Campinas 13083-970, SP, Brazil)

  • Nilson Antonio Modesto Arraes

    (Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, State University of Campinas (Unicamp), Campinas 13083-970, SP, Brazil)

Abstract

Food banks have played an important role in reducing food loss and waste and improving the food insecurity of vulnerable people. This study aimed to carry out a systematic review of food bank evaluation studies and bring new perspectives for future research and decision-making. Ninety-three articles were selected and analyzed from a search on the Web of Science and ScienceDirect platforms. Bibliometric analyses and analyses of the evaluation methodologies were performed. The bibliometric results present the evolution of the studies over the period considered (1994–2024) and indicate how peaks of growth in the number of studies may be related to external events. Both the authors and studied organizations are located mainly in high-income countries. The main aspects considered in the evaluation methodologies are related to the dimensions of short-term impacts and results, indicating less interest in the dimension related to internal processes and activities. This study provides important support for researchers and decision-makers: in addition to presenting, in each dimension of the evaluation, the main indicators used, it raises the questions of the extent to which evaluation studies reflect the reality and context of a given country or region and the extent to which they reflect the management processes of food banks.

Suggested Citation

  • Nuria Abrahão Chaim & Nilson Antonio Modesto Arraes, 2024. "Perspectives on Evaluation of Food Banks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-21, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:22:p:9617-:d:1514065
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/9617/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/9617/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Natalia Tenuta & Thaís Barros & Romero Alves Teixeira & Rômulo Paes-Sousa, 2021. "Brazilian Food Banks: Overview and Perspectives," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-17, November.
    2. Francesca Galli & Alessio Cavicchi & Gianluca Brunori, 2019. "Food waste reduction and food poverty alleviation: a system dynamics conceptual model," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(2), pages 289-300, June.
    3. Byrne, Anne T. & Just, David R., 2022. "Review: Private food assistance in high income countries: A guide for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ismarini Pratami Putri & Angga Dwiartama & Mia Rosmiati, 2025. "Exploring grassroots initiatives in food waste reduction - a case study of two Indonesian food banks," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 17(5), pages 1175-1189, October.
    2. María Leticia Acosta Mereles & Carlos Mur Nuño & Ricardo Rubén Stratta Fernández & Manuel Enrique Chenet, 2025. "Good Practices of Food Banks in Spain: Contribution to Sustainable Development from the CFS-RAI Principles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-25, January.
    3. Diana Eyers-White & Tahna Pettman & John Coveney & Jon Buckley & Ian Goodwin-Smith & Svetlana Bogomolova, 2026. "A typology of food assistance models," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 43(1), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Filippo Oncini, 2021. "Food support provision in COVID-19 times: a mixed method study based in Greater Manchester," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(4), pages 1201-1213, December.
    5. Katharine S. E. Cresswell Riol & Sean Connelly, 2023. "Beyond a neoliberal critique of hunger: a genealogy of food charity in Aotearoa New Zealand," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(3), pages 1221-1238, September.
    6. Baldwin, Katherine & Mensah, Kristina & Tiehen, Laura & Rudloff, Bettina, 2025. "Mitigating food security impacts from crisis in high-income countries: lessons from different contexts," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    7. Nik Masdek Nik Rozana & Wong Kelly Kai Seng & Mohd Nawi Nolila & Sharifuddin Juwaidah & Wong Wang Li, 2023. "Antecedents of sustainable food waste management behaviour: Empirical evidence from urban households in Malaysia," Management & Marketing, Sciendo, vol. 18(1), pages 53-77, March.
    8. Dong, Xiao & Byrne, Anne T. & Rhone, Alana & Ver Ploeg, Michele, 2025. "Review: untangling the complex economics of the local food retail environment," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    9. Joshua D. Lohnes, 2021. "Regulating surplus: charity and the legal geographies of food waste enclosure," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(2), pages 351-363, June.
    10. Aleksander Buczacki & Bartłomiej Gładysz & Erika Palmer, 2021. "HoReCa Food Waste and Sustainable Development Goals—A Systemic View," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-16, May.
    11. Bohuslava Mihalčová & Antonín Korauš & Olha Prokopenko & Jozefína Hvastová & Magdaléna Freňáková & Peter Gallo & Beáta Balogová, 2021. "Effective Management Tools for Solving the Problem of Poverty in Relation to Food Waste in Context of Integrated Management of Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    12. Anne T. Byrne & David R. Just & Christopher B. Barrett, 2023. "But it came from a food pantry: Product stigma and quality perceptions of food pantry offerings," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(2), pages 327-344, March.
    13. Hamel, Brian T. & Harman, Moriah, 2023. "Can government investment in food pantries decrease food insecurity?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    14. Kelsey D. Meagher & Anne Gillman & David C. Campbell & Edward S. Spang, 2020. "Relational and Logistical Dimensions of Agricultural Food Recovery: Evidence from California Growers and Recovery Organizations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-18, July.
    15. Nathalie Spielmann & Pierrick Gomez & Elizabeth Minton, 2024. "The Role of the Ugly = Bad Stereotype in the Rejection of Misshapen Produce," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(2), pages 413-437, March.
    16. Vandroux, Romane & Wolff, François-Charles, 2025. "Poor health and food insecurity among food assistance recipients: Evidence from France," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    17. Inderasan Munien & Arnesh Telukdarie, 2025. "Updating neoclassical economics with contemporary conceptions of homo economicus: a bibliometric analysis," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 1123-1151, April.
    18. Raquel Carvalho & Maria Raquel Lucas & Ana Marta-Costa, 2025. "Food Waste Reduction: A Systematic Literature Review on Integrating Policies, Consumer Behavior, and Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-31, April.
    19. Mattia Iotti & Elisa Manghi & Giuseppe Bonazzi, 2024. "Debt Sustainability Assessment in the Biogas Sector: Application of Interest Coverage Ratios in a Sample of Agricultural Firms in Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-34, March.
    20. Filippo Oncini & Hein Mallee, 2026. "Between surplus and support: a comparison between Greater Manchester (UK) and Kyoto Prefecture (Japan) charitable food provision fields," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 106(4), pages 539-560, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:22:p:9617-:d:1514065. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.