{"id":22193,"date":"2020-04-13T04:06:10","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T11:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/?p=22193"},"modified":"2020-04-13T04:10:20","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T11:10:20","slug":"american-food-lines-miles-long","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amicuscuria.com\/wordpress\/american-food-lines-miles-long\/","title":{"rendered":"American Food Lines Miles Long"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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Vehicles lined up to receive food provided by the food bank Feeding South Florida and being given away by the City of Sunrise on April 06, 2020.<\/figcaption>\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n‘Unforgettable’ Footage of Endless Line of Cars at Food Banks a Stark Illustration of Coronavirus Crisis in US<\/strong>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nby Eoin Higgins<\/a> (4-10-20)\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n“It is outrageous that in the richest country in the history of the world, people are going hungry,” said Bernie Sanders, who called for more urgent relief from Congress.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nImages and video of miles of cars lined up at food banks in San Antonio and other cities across the U.S. present a striking example of the economic effects of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, which has thrown at least 16 million Americans out of work in recent weeks and increased pressure on the distribution centers to provide key staples for a flood of needy people in the country.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n“Unforgettable image: thousands of cars lined up at a San Antonio food bank today, the desperate families inside kept safely apart,” tweeted<\/a> CNN <\/em>senior editor Amanda Katz. “Breadline, 2020.”\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nOn Thursday, San Antonio Food Bank creative manager Robert R. Fike posted a time-lapse video of the line of cars waiting to get supplies.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nby Robert R. Fike\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThis is what I saw. Blistering heat. Folks in line since 7pm the night before. To get food. Hundreds of volunteers busting it to serve, so families could go home (probably to pass some out to their neighbors too) & get the nourishment they need.\n\n\n\nThis is the COVID-19 Crisis:\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/i\/status\/1248353675598336001<\/a>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n“It was a rough one today,” San Antonio Food Bank president and CEO Eric Cooper told<\/a> the San Antonio Express News<\/em>. “We have never executed on as large of a demand as we are now.”\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe onset of the coronavirus outbreak brought with it economic paralysis across the U.S. and the world, shutting down businesses around the world as people use social distancing and isolation to curb the spread of the disease. In the U.S., where lawmakers have largely dragged their feet on providing unemployed people with help, Americans are increasingly turning to charities like food banks to provide the means of survival. \n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nSe. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), an outspoken advocate for economic relief efforts, tweeted on Friday that the scenes from food banks were indicative of the need for immediate Congressional action.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n“It is outrageous that in the richest country in the history of the world, people are going hungry,” said Sanders.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIt is outrageous that in the richest country in the history of the world, people are going hungry. Congress must radically increase food assistance programs and offer grocery delivery options to ensure all people are able to eat safely during this crisis. -Bernie Sanders-\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nhttps:\/\/t.co\/zkvsGFdHOA<\/a>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nAccording to<\/a> the New York Times<\/em>, food banks across the country are facing funding shortfalls in the face of increasing demand despite donations from the superrich:\n\n\n\n\n
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Feeding America, the nation’s largest network of food banks, with more than 200 affiliates, has projected a $1.4 billion shortfall in the next six months alone. Last week, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, announced that he was donating $100 million to the group\u2014the largest single donation<\/a> in its history, but still less than a tenth of what it needs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIn January 2019, Business Insider<\/em> calculated Bezos makes roughly $4,474,885 every hour, making his donation to Feeding America the equivalent of around 22-and-a-half hours of passive wealth generation. \n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nSan Antonio was not the only city to see record numbers of people seeking help and miles of cars waiting for food. Pittsburgh, Inglewood, Chicago, and Sunrise, Florida were among cities with packed roads leading to local facilities and massive amounts of food to be distributed. \n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nby Andrew Rush\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nHundreds of cars wait to receive food from the Greater Community Food Bank in Duquesne. Collection begins at noon:\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/i\/status\/1244657465859457024<\/a>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nby Nick Knudsen\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThis report from Pittsburgh shows the miles-long line to get to the local food bank.\n\n\n\nTrump\u2019s America, 2020.\n\n\n\nWatch. Share. Donate to your local food bank if you can:\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/i\/status\/1246496039760056320<\/a>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nby Darsha Phillips\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nDrive thru food bank in #Inglewood<\/a>
Lots of people in need right now:\n\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\n\nA drone captured aerial images of the long line of cars in Sunrise, Florida, where motorists hoped to receive food from Feeding South Florida, a local food bank.\n\n\n\n\n
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South Florida residents were backed up for hours waiting to get food from a food bank. SUNRISE, FLORIDA – APRIL 06: Jose Martinez waits in line next to his car to receive groceries provided by the food bank Feeding South Florida and distributed by the City of Sunrise.<\/em><\/figcaption>\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nOn Monday, a drone captured aerial images of the long line of cars in Sunrise, Florida, where motorists hoped to receive food from Feeding South Florida, a local food bank. Since the novel coronavirus outbreak has left millions of people across the country unemployed, Feeding South Florida has seen a 600 percent increase in Floridians asking for an assortment of food, ranging from milk, eggs, bread, chicken, fruit and veggies, according to Daily Mail<\/em><\/a>.\n\n\n\n\n
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SUNRISE, FLORIDA \u2013 APRIL 06: An aerial view from a drone shows vehicles lineup to receive food provided by the food bank Feeding South Florida and being given away by the City of Sunrise<\/em><\/figcaption>\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nby Nicholas Kulish\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nIn Omaha, a food pantry that typically serves as few as 100 people saw 900 show up on a single day. In Jonesboro, Ark., after a powerful tornado struck, a food bank received less than half the donations it expected because nervous families held on to what they had. And in Washington State and Louisiana, the National Guard has been called in to help pack food boxes and ensure that the distributions run smoothly.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nDemand for food assistance is rising at an extraordinary rate, just as the nation\u2019s food banks are being struck by shortages of both donated food and volunteer workers.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nUniformed guardsmen help \u201ctake the edge off\u201d at increasingly tense distributions of boxes filled with cans of chicken noodle soup, tuna fish, and pork and beans, said Mike Manning, the chief executive at the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. \u201cTheir presence provides safety for us during distributions.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nMr. Manning, who has worked at the food bank for 16 years, including through Hurricane Katrina, said that he had never witnessed such a combination of need, scarcity and anxiety. \u201c\u2018Crazy\u2019 pretty much sums it up,\u201d he said.\n\n\n\n\n
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Army and Air Force National Guard soldiers packed food boxes at the Nourish Pierce County food bank in Tacoma, Wash., last week.Credit…
<\/figcaption>\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it,\u201d said Stacy Dean, vice president for food assistance policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning research organization in Washington, D.C. She has studied food security for more than a quarter century. \u201cPeople love the phrase \u2018the perfect storm,\u2019\u201d she added, \u201cbut nothing is built for this.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nFeeding America, the nation\u2019s largest network of food banks, with more than 200 affiliates, has projected a $1.4 billion shortfall in the next six months alone. Last week, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, announced that he was donating $100 million to the group \u2014 the largest single donation<\/a> in its history, but still less than a tenth of what it needs.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nThe coronavirus is everywhere in America, and so is the hunger. More than a million people have viewed drone footage of a miles-long line of cars waiting for food last week along a bend in the Monongahela River leading to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nA spokeswoman for the organization, Beth Burrell, said that 800 cars were served that day. Another distribution this week drew even more.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nTini Mason, 44, was in one of those cars, making his first-ever trip to a food bank<\/a>. \u201cWe have to stretch every can, every package, everything that we have, because we don\u2019t know what\u2019s around the corner,\u201d he said in a telephone interview.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nMr. Mason lost his job as a cook shortly before the outbreak took hold. The career office where he had been looking for work has closed its doors, and he is still waiting for his unemployment benefits to come through. His partner, Crystal Stewart, 49, lost her job at a Residence Inn by Marriott, then briefly found work at a supermarket. But she developed a cough and was forced to isolate while awaiting the results of a swab test. (Her test has since come back negative.)\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nMr. Mason described the sight of mile after mile of drivers seeking food as \u201can eye-opener, mind-blowing, an experience I will never forget.\u201d He and Ms. Stewart said they honked their horn as a gesture of appreciation for volunteers, then drove home and shared eggs and fruit with neighbors who do not own cars.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\u201cIf I don\u2019t have to worry about food, I can worry about clothes, how I\u2019m going to pay the rent, how I\u2019m going to pay the car note,\u201d Ms. Stewart said.\n\n\n\n\n
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The Food Bank for New York City distribution center in the Bronx. Almost half the respondents to a recent poll of city residents said they were concerned about being able to afford food.<\/figcaption>\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nClose to 10 million Americans reported losing their jobs in the second half of March. The true number of newly unemployed is almost certainly higher, and many have little or no buffer against the sudden loss in income. Even before the current economic crisis, the Federal Reserve found that four in 10 American adults did not have the savings or other resources to cover an unexpected $400 expense<\/a>.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nWhile Congress passed a sweeping economic recovery package last month that promised payments of up to $1,200 to most American adults, it remains unclear when the funds will arrive<\/a>.\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n\nAdding to the problem, school closings across the country mean that many families who relied on free or subsidized school breakfasts and lunches to keep their children fed are facing even greater need.\n\n\n\n\n
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