Food insecurity adds to the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic

By Dennis Archambault

“In the midst of all this stress living in a pandemic…the stress of being food insecure is debilitating in and of itself.” That’s the sobering assessment of Phil Knight, executive director of the Food Bank Council of Michigan. A recent University of Chicago study (https://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/documents/reports/food-insecurity-covid_week1_report-13-may-2020.pdf) found that 37 percent of unemployed Americans ran out of food during the past month, and 46 percent said they worried about running out.  One in 10 employed people said they ran out of food before they earned enough to buy it.

This is the same environment in which farmers complained of not having markets to sell their produce – primarily the restaurant industry, which has been shut down, except for carry-out business, during the state’s lockdown order. News reports of farmers plowing vegetables went viral, prompting Groundwork for Resilient Communities to innovate. Groundwork – which linked Michigan farmers with the state’s school districts through the 10 Cent a Meal Program (https://www.tencentsmichigan.org/). Groundwork raised money to buy excess produce and repackage it to supply food pantries, which by all indications are distributing the food as quickly as they get it.

Gleaners, a major free food distributor in the region, has increased its distribution by nearly 3 million points of food over the same March-April period in 2019. Smaller food pantries are noting scarcity.

On May 8, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved $1.2 billion in contracts to support American producers and communities in need through the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program (https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/farmers-to-families-food-box). Several Michigan suppliers, including Eastern Market Corporation, were selected by USDA to help support the program. The suppliers will provide a pre-approved box of fresh produce, dairy, and meat products to food banks, community and faith-based organizations, and other non-profits.

Food insecurity has spread from areas of food desert and convenience store “swamps” to regional scarcities. There are large groups of the population, such as the 3,400 seniors isolated in high rise apartments in the midtown and downtown areas, in which no one knows whether they have gotten sufficient food and essential supplies during the pandemic.

As society slowly resumes a new sense of normalcy, food advocates have learned that there is a critical need to strengthen the emergency food network, build on best practices, and create a more resilient community.

Dennis Archambault is vice president of Public Affairs for Authority Health.