By Jenny Manrique / Ethnic Media Services
When Jovanna López realized that the food received by immigrants, blacks and indigenous people who stood in long lines at the food banks in San Antonio, Texas, was expired or rotten, she set herself the task of working so that these communities could have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Even more so when the organic markets were overcrowded by producers who only targeted a bourgeois public, with astronomical prices, who also refused food stamps as payment.
So it was that in 2015, this food promoter co-founded People's Nite Market, a night market where access to nutritious food replaced the avocados and spoiled salads handed out at food donations. The situation before COVID-19 was already difficult," Lopez said during a press conference organized by Ethnic Media Services. But when the pandemic started all this poverty and hunger went up and people with disabilities, or without access to transportation to go anywhere, or even with immunological problems, had to stop eating," he said.
An 85-year-old neighbor had been feeding herself on bread for weeks because no one could visit her due to social distancing, until Lopez's organization brought her a box of rice and beans. Since the beginning of June, thanks to a hard-fought US $$600,000 grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), People's Nite Market has been able to feed 150,000 families in the area, including undocumented immigrants, with the weekly distribution of 5,000 boxes of products such as fruits, vegetables, eggs and rice.
According to Lopez, the San Antonio housing authority decided to cancel the food delivery as soon as COVID started and people were trying to help each other, especially those who were immuno-compromised or under 60, since aid for young people is scarce. I talked to a lot of activists and we had residents start their own community web to access any resources they might need.
As an urban farmer, Lopez works with Garcia Street Urban Farm, a four-acre farm on the west side of San Antonio that allows people to grow their own food. But this model, while successful, requires an initial investment of US$20,000 that many don't have. We are fighting for the development department to change its policies on the use of public spaces and for the government to support community organizations so that more families can become farmers," Lopez noted.
54 million hungry
San Antonio's situation is a microcosm of a picture that is very pale nationwide. According to the Census Bureau's weekly surveys (analyzed by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Hamilton), in the first two weeks of August, about 14 million children were not getting the food they need. This is equivalent to children living in one-sixth of U.S. households and is five times higher than before the pandemic.
And according to the economic model of Feeding America, a nonprofit organization with a national network of more than 200 food banks, 54 million people, including 18 million children, will experience food insecurity by 2020. The figure during the Great Depression of 1929 was 60 million.
Since mid-March we have seen food shortages rise across the country," said Ami L. McReynolds, director of equity and programs for Feeding America, an organization that was already assisting 37 million people before COVID at 60,000 distribution points across the United States.
The cost of living continues to rise and people are going without food because their income covers the basics of housing, food and transportation. But food expenses are flexible; it's the first thing they cut back on when there are problems with household resources," McReynolds added.
Indigenous, black and immigrant communities suffer 2.5 times more hunger than white people, and are more affected by unemployment, which is already at 11%. These households can cover a maximum of US$400 in emergencies, have less access to transportation to food distribution points, and due to discriminatory practices are not homeowners so they live in neighborhoods with less infrastructure and access. Not to mention that they have been the hardest hit by COVID-19.
There is a 60% increase in our services during the pandemic. Many individuals who come to our food centers today have previously been volunteers or donors to the banks. They are some of our newest clients," McReynolds said.
His organization has mutated to new distribution models such as home deliveries of groceries and canned goods to reduce contact with people, especially the elderly, of whom there are an estimated 5.5 million going hungry. There are also technology applications through which people can order food online at nearby supermarkets to reduce queues at satellite distribution sites. And many banks that work specifically with Latino communities have created partnerships with grassroots organizations to understand cultural food preferences and reduce trust barriers to access.
We know that fear prevents access to food, it is a concern. We want the communities to feel comfortable and safe coming to these centers.
McReynolds says that while they have the support of a network of nearly two million volunteers and even the National Guard to help maintain health protocols dictated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they are still looking for allies.
Federal Grants
Feeding America, for example, provides only one-ninth of what federal programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps) and WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) do. But in the new relief packages to address the coronavirus pandemic, resources for these programs are at risk of being cut or underfunded.
Both Republicans and Democrats want to pass some assistance, but the problem is they want it to be a third of what was passed in the House," said the Rev. David Beckmann, president of the Bread for the World Institute. ?Making cuts to programs like SNAP in schools, even while they're closed, is going to be devastating to a lot of people?
Beckmann recalled that this federal assistance is also not available to undocumented individuals. Even for resident immigrants, the current administration's change to the public charge law makes them reluctant to ask for help for fear of affecting their future immigration regularization process. That is why other measures such as immigration and labor reform are urgently needed because to end hunger "it is not enough to just give people food, but to make it possible for people to earn that food".
The expert said, however, that the absence of the issue at the Democratic and Republican conventions reflects the impact of consultants who have asked politicians not to use the word poverty in the world's richest country. Joe Biden's program would give us a better chance of creating a healthier economy and reducing poverty," Beckmann said of the Democratic candidate's platform. We could end hunger in eight years if we wanted to," he concluded.
