Table 1.

Characteristics of 357 Arkansas food pantries, as reported by staff member responses to an online survey

	n (%)
Does the food pantry have written nutrition guidelines?a
Yes	60 (18.5)
No	264 (81.5)
Is the food pantry a client choice pantry (i.e., do clients select their foods rather than receive prepackaged bags or boxes with minimal choice)?b
Yes	65 (19.3)
No	272 (80.7)
Does the food pantry have adequate refrigerator storage?
Yes	221 (65.0)
No	119 (35.0)
Does the food pantry have adequate freezer storage?
Yes	257 (76.5)
No	79 (23.5)
Service frequency of the food pantry
No regular schedule, clients call as needed	15 (4.4)
Open once a month	68 (19.9)
Open twice a month	37 (10.9)
Open once a week	86 (25.2)
Open two to four days a week	88 (25.8)
Open five or more days a week	47 (13.8)

Note: One staff member per food pantry responded to the online survey. The denominators for percentages are based on the number of valid responses to each item; thus, number of respondents for any item may not total 357 due to missing data. Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.

^aResponse options were: “Yes, written guidelines”; “Yes, unwritten guidelines”; and “No.” This variable was dichotomized as 1=“Written guidelines” and 0=“No written guidelines.” The decision to dichotomize this variable was made to emphasize formal written policy and was made before data were analyzed.

^bResponse options were: “Clients select foods from shelves, like in a store”; “Clients make selections via order form”; and “Clients receive prepackaged bags or boxes with minimal choice.” This variable was dichotomized as 1=“Client choice,” which combined selection from shelves and order forms, and 0=“No/minimal choice.” The decision to dichotomize this variable was made before data were analyzed.