Food and social perceptions of the participants in charitable cafés in an affluent northeastern US town: a grounded theory approach

There are relatively few studies exploring the emotional and somatic dimensions of homelessness that give this population a voice in research. This investigation explores guest informants’ perceptions of foods offered at local charitable café settings and their road to the charitable food table. A total of 63 guests were given demographic surveys and interviewed during multiple sessions at 1 church and 2 Jewish temples in an affluent northeastern US suburb in 2019. This qualitative research utilized a Grounded Theory approach. The following 6-themes were generated: Food Security & Nutrition, Victimization & Disempowerment, Isolation: Community; Respite, Resignation & Systematic Bias and Intention. The guests had a number of important unmet needs which fell outside of their concern for food, including community inclusivity, distress and importantly, reliable engagement of social support networks. The findings suggest a need for food and nutrition along with social services at charitable cafés. An interventional model leading to self-efficacy is proposed. The Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Identity theories were also applied to the findings to demonstrate the implications and recommendations of this research.