NEW ORLEANS — The COVID-19 pandemic is putting an unprecedented demand on Second Harvest Food Bank and officials there say more families are now in danger of going hungry.
Most of the food given out at the mass distributions through Second Harvest Food Bank is actually food bought by the federal government from farmers throughout the country. Second Harvest then makes the food available to families who need it.
“We’re doing an OK job,” said Natalie Jayroe. “I can’t tell you that we’re meeting the need of every hungry person because we’re not, but we’re able to do a lot.”
Jayroe is the president of Second Harvest Food Bank. The pandemic is forcing the food bank to operate at emergency-like levels. The recent trends in Louisiana tell them all hands will likely have to stay on deck.
“Given that number of illnesses is increasing again, all bets are off as to how long we’ll be in this very acute phase of mass distributions,” Jayroe said.
For perspective, Second Harvest Food Bank would normally produce 800 to 1,000 meals a day. During the pandemic, that has shot up to 10,000 meals a day.
Second Harvest is watching two things very closely right now. The first centers around the federal unemployment benefits that many people are currently receiving now. The second is the federal program that brings in the extra food from farmers to non-profits. Both of those programs are are set to expire at the end of the month.
“If those things aren’t reinforced, we’ll have a whole list of new obstacles that we’ll have to overcome to find ways to take care of our people,” Jayroe said.
The number of people they must take care of is growing.
“One-out-of-five people prior to Coronavirus hitting was at risk for hunger. That’s at least one-in-four now, if not one-in-three,” Jayroe said. “So, double or triple the number of food insecure people.”
Before COVID-19, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita set the benchmarks for need at Second Harvest. The damage from 2005 left clear marks, but Jayroe says there’s a new standard of struggle now, and it’s being set by a virus that’s invisible.
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