The coronavirus pandemic has sent millions of people across the country into food insecurity, and ahead of the new year, food banks are expecting to see an uptick in people at risk of going hungry for the holidays.
With Congress still unable to pass a second relief bill and hundreds of thousands of people still out of work or short of work, the financial toll of the pandemic has prompted many to ask for help, some for the first time. Food banks in the Washington, D.C., area say they expect an increase of people to come to their services in the next month, as unemployment benefits are on the brink of expiring.
“There are people who are trying to get by on their own resources using whatever resources are available, so they don’t feel like they have to come to our food pantry, but when things run out, they’re going to have less options, so they’re going to come to our doors for food,” Jeremiah Huston, assistant director of communications for the Arlington Food Assistance Center in Virginia, told the Washington Examiner.
Huston said since the pandemic’s outbreak in March, his food bank has seen a 45% increase in referrals to their organization.
The organization is aiming to provide special meals ahead of the holiday, handing out roast chickens this week for Christmas.
Over the summer, the United Nations released a policy brief predicting 50 million people around the world could fall into “extreme poverty” in the duration of the pandemic.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted in the brief that there is “more than enough food” to feed the global population, but up to 820 million people around the globe were at risk of going hungry. Roughly 144 million children under the age of 5 are also stunted, which is 1 in 5 children worldwide.
“Our food systems are failing, and the COVID-19 pandemic is making things worse,” Guterres said.
The hunger-relief organization Feeding America predicts up to 50 million people across the country could experience food insecurity in 2020, including 17 million children. That’s a 15.6% overall uptick in the number of people unable to access enough food for themselves or their families from 2018.
An October report from Feeding America found places that had high rates of food insecurity prior to the pandemic will continue to struggle throughout the course of COVID-19, and places with lower rates will see an increase in food insecurity.
The pandemic’s impact on people going hungry has disproportionately hit rural and minority communities. The report found that prior to the pandemic, Latino individuals were twice as likely to experience food insecurity than non-Hispanic white individuals, while black individuals were 2.4 times more likely to be food insecure than white individuals.
Those in rural areas were also more likely to face hunger due to challenges rural residents face, such as the lack of transportation to grocery stores and food pantries and the likelihood that they’re more likely to have higher rates of unemployment and underemployment.
Larnell Carr, director of food service at Damien Ministries in Washington, D.C., said his organization has taken into account the financial struggles of people during unprecedented times and is helping out people by giving them groceries and meals, as well as handing out personal protection equipment.
Damien Ministries is a faith-based nonprofit organization that concentrates its assistance services to people living with HIV/AIDS but expanded its doors to welcome anyone during the pandemic.
“We don’t turn anyone down at this time because we know what COVID is doing to people with their finances and everything like that,” Carr told the Washington Examiner.
Damien Ministries allows people to receive groceries once or twice a month and has seen more people coming in over fears of a possible economic rollback in D.C. People can also receive essentials like toilet paper, detergent, lotion, and bleach products to stay sanitized.
“A lot of those types of things we’re finding that people are in need of cannot get it, or after they try to pay their rent or their utilities, they’re really tapped out and don’t have any resources to purchase those items,” Carr said. “We knew the need was there.”
According to the Capital Area Food Bank, over 400,000 people in the D.C. area struggle to get food they need at points throughout the year. Ninety-five percent of people who struggle with food have a home, and hunger is on the rise for suburban residents, as well as senior citizens.
Carr said he saw the most people coming to them for help during the first economic shutdown but can’t say the rate of people in need decreased very much since the virus first made its outbreak.
“When the first shut down happened, we really saw a flux of increase then,” he said. “I’m not going to say it panned out. It probably went down 5%, and now it’s starting to rev back up.”
Nationwide, the coronavirus pandemic has infected over 16 million people and killed more than 300,000 people.
