According to Feeding America, food insecurity refers to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s measure of lack of access — at times — to enough food for an active, healthy life for all members of a household and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. Food-insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all the time. Food insecurity may reflect a household’s need to make trade-offs between important basic needs — such as housing or medical bills — and purchase nutritionally adequate foods.
The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting vulnerable households in various ways. Many food-insecure individuals have characteristics that put them at a higher risk for severe illness associated with COVID-19. Workers who have service occupations or work in the leisure and hospitality industry are more likely to be food insecure and are at risk of further hardship as many businesses have been forced to close and lay off staff. Should unemployment and poverty increase to the level of the Great Recession, 9.9 million more people may experience food insecurity.
According to an April 12, 2020, editorial in the Dallas Morning News, food banks are running short on supplies and especially need volunteers to help distribute emergency food packages during the pandemic. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins is asking for donations to the North Texas Food Bank through an initiative called Neighbors Helping Neighbors to assist those who have been laid off due to the pandemic.
The Texas National Guard also is distributing food from a mobile food pantry, and school districts are finding creative ways to make sure they can safely provide meals to students who are no longer on campus. Richardson ISD is collaborating with Network of Community Ministries, Café Momentum, LakePointe Church and the Lake Highlands Junior Women’s League to feed children.
The church I attend, Lovers Lane United Methodist, started a food ministry distributing fresh produce. Bags are packed with 13 fruits and vegetables, along with rice and beans. Because the pastor owns a small store in East Texas that offers a few food items, he was able to contract with a wholesale distributor in Dallas who is providing the produce. Flyers promoting the food giveaway were distributed to teachers at a high school and elementary school that are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. They communicated with the students and their parents. Every week at LLUMC, eight shifts of a total of 73 socially distancing volunteers unload produce, pack bags, direct traffic in the parking lot and hand out food.
Today, I volunteered in the parking lot when cars line up an hour ahead of time. I waved to every car and even did some dancing to entertain them in the 85-degree heat. We gave out 600 bags of food. Since the food ministry started, 72,000 pounds of food have been distributed to 16,000 people.
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