food pantry

A food pantry is a place where persons in need can come regularly to receive food and nourishment free of charge, or at a very low below-market cost. In most cases these are operated by charitable or religious organizations, but can also be operated by governments.

Food pantries may be supplied through a food bank, through direct donations, or sometimes partly through their own cultivated plots.

The pantry distributes food to the people who need it. A food bank can instead supply the organizations carrying out that distribution, so the two have different positions in the supply chain.