Food Banks in the United States

Have you ever not known where your next meal was coming from? Or if you'd have to skip 2 meals a day, possibly 3? This is the case for millions of Americans, who spend their days looking for ways to feed themselves or their families. 1 in 6 American families face hunger and food insecurity every year, but there is a way to change that. Food Banks are the second most important way for poverty ridden families to get food, next to Food Stamps. There are food banks all over the country, ranging from the biggest ones like Feeding America, to small pantries run from neighbor's homes. Nevertheless, food pantries also suffer. For as much as they are helpful, they are also in need. Food banks need donations from everyone to continue running, donations more than just your canned goods. I used to volunteer for the Food Bank of Delmarva before I came here for college, but there are many food banks in his area as well. I want to tell you why food banks are so important, and to convince you to donate your time and maybe a little extra money to your food banks.

According to Worldhunger.org and Feeding America, in both 2013 and 2014, there were about 14.6% of Americans in poverty, about 46 million people, and virtually all of them were also food insecure, meaning that they were unable to buy food on their own or they didn't have enough food to eat. With Very Low food insecurity, families often went without eating, and the percentage of those families was almost half of all the food insecure families, at around 6%. While America is one of the richest countries, we are also remarkably food insecure, in 2012 we had the same level of food insecurity as Greece.

The families that are often hit most with food insecurity are those with at least one child, and when one or both parents lose their jobs. Another group that is often hungry is homes of single parents, because they only have one source of income, and if they lose that it is worse than those who had two. No one knows when they might get laid off a job, whether due to budget cuts, or if a parent spends too much time caring for an ill child, as was the case of one man named Brian in South Carolina, who worked in the Geek Squad at Best Buy until they laid him off because of his needs as a single father of his autistic son. Food banks helped him when he needed it most, because without them, he wouldn't have had money or food for himself or his son.

Food Banks help millions of Americans every year, in fact, in 2015 they served 46.5 million people, the same number of those reported as food insecure. However it is not a single effort, food banks ask for help from communities all the time, because it is impossible to do it on their own.

One of the best ways to help a food bank is to volunteer. Because of limited funding or the small pantries that cannot afford it, food banks need people to volunteer their time to help sort, pack, and deliver food. There need to be more people who can find it in their time to visit a food bank for a few hours a month.

Another problem with volunteers is the time they come. Hunger is often an issue that people see around thanksgiving or Christmas. In fact we just had a food drive here to help families have a nice meal. And to help your club, but anyway. And while these food drives are very helpful, food banks are very sparse during the

summer months. This is especially bad because families don't have anywhere to send their children, while during the school year 2 meals can be taken care of at school using the Free and Reduced lunch program that is available at most schools. There also aren't as many volunteers. I both of these shortages could be fixed, millions of families could be happier and a little fuller each day.

Now, another problem with food banks is what they receive. Let me ask you this. When there's a food drive coming up, how do you pick the food you'll give? I'm guessing you go through your cupboards or your pantry and pick out all the dented, almost expired, stuff-you'll never-eat, non-perishables, right? Unfortunately that's the case for many people who donate, and this is really bad for food banks. During my time at the Food Bank of Delmarva, I helped sort through the food donations. Many of the cans or boxes had to be thrown away because they were dented to the point where something could have gotten in, or leaked out, or was far past its expiration date. Probably at least a third was thrown out on just one day that I was there. So there has to be some better way to do this, right? Well is the answer to, buy new food for the food drive? The answer to that is also no, because of the incredible waste of money, or even the quality of things someone could buy. The best thing you can donate to a food bank is money. According to the Feeding America website, just $1 can buy 11 meals. If every person in Pennsylvania donated just $1 to the food bank, we'd be able to give every food insecure person 3 meals, both adults and children. And the food that the $1 can buy isn't unhealthy dollar menu stuff, but actually healthy options that are a huge help to growing children and worried parents, because no parent wants to serve their child McDonalds for every meal. Healthy options like berries or vegetables are essential, but very expensive to buy in a store. That is another reason food banks are so important.

Poverty and hunger are a huge problem in the United States. But food banks are always there to help, but they can't do that without our help. You never know, one day it could be any of you not knowing where or how to get a meal for you or your child. So please, volunteer at a food bank, or if you can't find the time send a few dollars to a local or even national food bank. No one deserves to go hungry, and it is so easy to help.

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