As the nation’s most important mechanism for getting people food, SNAP provides access to about ten times the amount of food as all the nation’s food banks. Here are the ways SNAP has expanded during the pandemic, and how advocates would like to see its reach go even further: Emergency…
Food Bank News
APRIL 22, 2020 — Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, normal wasn’t so great for the working poor in America. Despite a 10-year recovery, 12 percent of the nation remained food insecure in 2018. The state of affairs was so economically unsustainable that food banks doubled their distribution from 2009 to 2019, to…
At the same time that food banks are mobilizing to feed the millions impacted by the economic devastation caused by Covid-19, many are also ramping up to respond to a flood of calls from people needing assistance enrolling in SNAP. “We typically get about 100 calls a day regarding SNAP,”…
The lowly cardboard box plays a starring role in the USDA’s plan to purchase $3 billion worth of commodities from the nation’s farmers and pass it along to food banks and other hunger-relief organizations. The Coronavirus Food Assistance Program or CFAP, announced late last week, requires wholesalers and distributors to…
The quest for funds is on, as food banks seek to aid millions of Americans stricken by economic fallout from the coronavirus. With donated food slowing to a trickle, demand skyrocketing and the volunteer workforce dwindling, food banks are amping up their appeals to individual donors, while also exploring new…
Eric Cooper, CEO of San Antonio Food Bank, became the public face of the unprecedented need facing the nation’s food banks when he was interviewed this morning on NBC’s Today show, following an epic distribution that delivered a reported one million pounds of food to about 10,000 families last Thursday.…
A quick look at the home page of Yolo Food Bank’s website underscores a main mission of its Covid-19 response: to get food to the elderly and vulnerable who are stuck at home. In stepping up to meet the needs of low-income quarantined individuals, Yolo is taking on one of…
With about one-third of the food pantries across Toronto having closed, Daily Bread Food Bank has begun distributing food from public libraries, taking advantage of their book-processing center, trucks and temporarily out-of-work librarians. Four libraries have begun distributing food and a total of nine are expected to, thanks to partnerships…
Food banks may have gotten an extra $450 million for emergency food in the federal coronavirus aid package passed last week, but it’s not nearly enough. Feeding America says its network of member food banks will need $1.4 billion in additional resources over the next six months, representing a 30%…