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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 8 december 2020

Pandemic pushes newly hungry Americans to crowded food lines

By SHARON COHEN to 15, can attend class re-
AP National Writer motely.
The deadly pandemic "It has been hard feeding
that tore through the na- all the kiddos daily," Leoca-
tion's heartland struck just dio said outside the trailer
as Aaron Crawford was in after a recent delivery from
a moment of crisis. He was the Society of St. Vincent
looking for work, his wife de Paul in Phoenix, Arizo-
needed surgery, then the na. The family recently re-
virus started eating away ceived two boxes from the
at her paycheck. charity, including canned
The Crawfords had no sav- tomatoes, dried beans,
ings, mounting bills and rice, breakfast cereal and
a growing dread: What if the kids' undisputed favor-
they ran out of food? The ite: specialty Oreo cookies.
couple had two boys, 5 The food, she says, provides
and 10, and boxes of mac- less than half of what her
aroni and cheese from the family eats in four weeks,
dollar store could go only but reduces their monthly
so far. bill to about $250.
A 37-year-old Navy vet, While food banks have be-
Crawford saw himself as Aaron Crawford, his wife Sheyla and their sons, Sornic, left, and Gabriel, stand for a photograph come critical during the
self-reliant. Asking for food outside their Apple Valley, Minn., home on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020. pandemic, they're just one
made him uncomfortable. Associated Press path for combating hun-
"I felt like I was a failure," he ger. For every meal from a
says. "It's this whole stigma... Shortly before Thanksgiv- That was double the rate cook, was unemployed food bank, a federal pro-
this mindset that you're ing, Norman Butler and of white and Asian house- for months during the out- gram called the Supple-
this guy who can't provide his girlfriend, Cheryl, ar- holds. It also found that break. mental Nutrition Assistance
for his family, that you're a rived at 3 a.m. at a drive- women, households with Leocadio's income — bare- Program, or food stamps —
deadbeat." through food bank in a children and people of ly more than the $11 state provides nine.
Hunger is a harsh reality in suburban New Orleans color are at greatest risk of minimum wage — wasn't Anti-hunger groups have
the richest country in the sports stadium. They joined hunger. enough to cover their ex- lobbied Congress for a 15
world, even during times a pre-dawn procession of Abigail Leocadio, 34, who penses. They pay $500 a percent increase in maxi-
of prosperity. Now, with mothers with their kids, the was brought to the U.S. month to rent a lot for their mum food stamp benefits,
staggering job losses and elderly and folks like him — from Mexico by her family two-bedroom trailer, and A similar measure went a
business closings, millions unemployed workers. when she was 7, works as a as much as $450 in monthly long way in digging the na-
of Americans are worried Before the pandemic, But- phlebotomist in a local lab. electric bills and internet tion out of the Great Reces-
about empty refrigerators ler, 53, worked as an airport Her husband, a restaurant service so their four kids, 9 sion. q
and barren cupboards. shuttle and limousine driver,
Feeding America, the na- a valet and hotel doorman.
tion's largest anti-hunger Since March when the nor-
organization, has never mally bustling streets turned
handed out so much food silent, jobs have been
so fast — 4.2 billion meals scarce in the city.
from March through Octo- "A lot of people are in
ber. The organization has limbo," he says. "The main
seen a 60 percent average thing we need is to get
increase in food bank us- back to work."
ers during the pandemic; For communities of color,
about 4 in 10 are first-timers. the pandemic has been
An Associated Press anal- a compound disaster with
ysis of Feeding America Blacks and Latinos reeling
data from 181 food banks from disproportionately
in its network found the or- high rates of deaths, infec-
ganization has distributed tions — and joblessness.
nearly 57 percent more Unemployment surged
food in the third quarter of among Latinos to 18.9 per-
the year, compared with cent this spring, higher than
the same period in 2019. any other racial and ethnic
Those fighting hunger say group, according to fed-
they've never seen any- eral statistics. Though it has
thing like this in America, since fallen, many are still
even during the Great Re- struggling.
cession of 2007-2009. More than 1 in 5 Black and
Across the country, cars line Latino adults with children
up for miles to wait for food said as of July 2020 they
handouts, each driver wait- sometimes or often did not
ing hours for a box or bag have enough to eat, ac-
of food. In New York, and cording to a September re-
other large cities, people port commissioned by the
stand, waiting for blocks on Food Research & Action
end. Center.