The food safety net after welfare reform: Use of private and public food assistance in the Kansas City metropolitan area

This study documents reliance on the private and public food safety net in the Kansas City metropolitan area. While the use of food pantries is widespread, the frequency of food pantry use is low compared to food stamp use. However, almost 60 percent of food pantry recipients also received food stamps at some time during the studied period. Between 1998 and 2001, just over one-third of food stamp clients also visited a pantry. The data suggest that households are not substituting one form of assistance for the other but rather are accessing multiple types of assistance when necessary.