The modern-day food bank is almost a curiosity, existing in a land of plenty, but sustained by the persistent need of many. It’s not by coincidence that food banks exist. A number of factors have combined to make them an entrenched part of our nation’s food system and social support network:
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- The amount of federal assistance available to help people buy food directly impacts the need for food banks. Food banks did not become widespread until the cutting of the federal safety net during the Reagan administration. Then, the number of food banks increased by more than ten times in only ten years. Today, federal aid provides a crucial safety net for millions, but society continues to seek additional assistance from food banks to cover all its needs.
- Related to government aid is the issue of poverty. The number of people living in poverty remains high, exacerbated by a stubbornly low minimum wage rate, among other issues. This dynamic has led to the emergence of a segment of society known as the food-insecure, who regularly turn to food banks and related organizations to help make ends meet.
- There is also a supply side at work. Food banks would likely not exist in their current form if not for the massive donations that come in from the food and grocery industries looking to pass along food they can no longer sell, whether because of looming expiration dates, mislabeled food, damaged packaging or a host of other reasons. Food waste, in other words, is as instrumental to the rise of food banks over recent decades as is the demand created by poverty and food insecurity.
Food banks lie at the intersection of all these dynamics, making them much more than just charitable places where food is collected and distributed. Food banks are the physical outcome of government policies, economic forces and societal norms. As such, they provide a launching pad for far-ranging discussion and engagement on a host of important issues.