In the midst of the worst pandemic since 1918, a growing number of people are without or with too little food. They’re turning out in record numbers at local food banks.
“Their rent’s going up and they can’t afford it, and we’re definitely seeing an uptick,” Flint Street Fellowship Food Bank Executive Director Kathy Barnes, said. “There are people coming in now who wouldn’t have before. These are people who’ve worked their entire lives and now their Social Security just isn’t enough.” Flint Street also serves unemployed, homeless, and underemployed clients.
Flint Street served 125 people in June, up from 75 in April. Barnes noted that the extra $300 a month unemployment allowance included in the most recent Covid-19 relief package expired recently, but an increase in SNAP benefits is expected to take effect in October.
A Cup of Love Ministry Co-Director Patty Jarrett also sees increased food insecurity and says that jobs disappearing due to the pandemic have been a contributing factor. A Cup of Love served 653 households in July, up from 252 in June. “We’re all just one paycheck away from being homeless and people need to eat,” she said.
Feeding America projects that food insecurity in 2021 will affect 42 million Americans, including 13 million children, but the reality may be even harsher. The agency says that many people facing increased food insecurity were food insecure or at risk of it prior to Covid-19.
Food banks taking it on
An analysis by the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University looked at the effect of the pandemic on hunger, jobs, housing, mental health, finances, and schooling. Findings suggest that food insecurity is at its highest level since records were kept beginning in the mid-1990s, including during the Great Recession. According to the study, one in four – about 81 million Americans – didn’t have access to enough nutrition to support a healthy active life as of the week before Christmas 2020.
Increasing housing costs require people to choose between housing, medication, and food. Food and medication are usually the first casualties, as people struggle to keep a roof over their heads.
Norm Bishop, a regular at A Cup of Love, is retired and living on Social Security. His benefits are too low for him to afford anything more than a motel room, and even then, he eats hot lunches and gets food items at the food bank. Another Cup of Love regular, Paul, mentioned the increasing transformation of “take one-leave one” book drops into informal food pantries.
The two food pantries serving Eureka Springs are different in some ways but share the same goal and meet similar if not identical needs.
Flint Street shut its doors and only offered pick-up items from the beginning of the pandemic until May, when walk-in food pantry service was reinstated. Hot meals have yet to return. The food bank is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
The Ministry serves residents of Carroll County west of the Kings River, and patrons fill out a form. Some of their meats and produce come from the USDA, so there is paperwork regarding income and residency for those items. Other food and funding is donated by individuals, churches, and other organizations.
Another group of food items are purchased from the NWA Food Bank in Springdale. There is no means test for anything not supplied by the USDA. Masks are required.
Asked whether she anticipates the pantry closing the doors again because of the rapid re-escalation of Covid-19, Barnes replies, “I hope not. We’re doing the mask thing. Right now, we’re sticking with that.”
A Cup of Love hasn’t skipped a beat since the start of the pandemic and hot meals are served Monday through Friday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and Sundays starting at 11. They purchase from the NWA Food Bank as well, and receive food and monetary donations from individuals. They also rely on available grants. They do not have any means test or paperwork, serve anyone, and do not receive any USDA funding.
“We don’t turn anybody away” Jarrett said.
Both food banks provide baby food, diapers, toiletries and pet food, as well as fresh and canned produce and meats. Pet food and toiletries are especially needed.
Both food banks are appreciative of donations.