What can be done about a 'hunger cliff' facing our community
It's always a joy to distribute the gifts that you readers offer to local food banks through our Bellringer fundraiser. This week I can report that nearly all of the checks — which totaled more than $62,000 — are now in the hands where they are needed.
Of course, with the good also comes the... not "bad"... but let's say the challenges. Over the years my conversations with grateful food bank directors or board members eventually include each food bank's current needs, which seem to annually increase. This February the descriptions of the pinch at each food bank have perhaps been more pointed than ever, which you may have already assumed due to the inflation, rising food or housing costs and higher gas prices that we all feel in our family budgets. To just name one example, outgoing North Kitsap Fishline Executive Director Lori Maxim told me that a recent day saw 80 families arrive for food assistance, up from an average closer to 35 per day just last summer. How's that for a burden to start a year?
But there's more — in addition to those broad economy factors affecting individuals and families, food banks are receiving less food from sources like grocery stores. Two directors in Kitsap told me that due to grocery chains becoming more efficient with their own supply, likely due to increased costs or supply chain issues, the type of excess that may be donated has declined. Northwest Harvest, the hunger relief agency that partners with food banks and other partners across the state to distribute food, recently reported that its inventory is down 80 percent compared to a year ago. That means the cash donations to food banks are simply going to buying more food than ever before, and likely at a higher cost.
And finally, a federal policy enacted during the COVID pandemic is about to end, setting up what anti-hunger advocates are calling a "hunger cliff" that is just weeks away. Assistance to low-income individuals through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, was boosted by a policy known as Emergency Allotments. The increased amounts go away March 1, meaning nearly 520,000 residents in Washington state will see their assistance decline, by an average of $82 a month. Some seniors could have assistance cut from $200 to just $23 per month, according to the Seattle-based Anti-Hunger and Nutrition Coalition. As generous as you all were during the Bellringer, our gifts won't come anywhere close to filling a gap our food banks are going to soon be in the position to fill.
There is some hope to ease the crunch, and hopefully it comes quickly. A bill in the House, HR 1784, or the "emergency hunger relief bill," passed out of committee on Thursday and will be up for a vote by the full House next, which could send the measure over to the Senate for approval. HR 1784 would provide $20 million for food banks, $2 million for fruit and vegetable incentive programs, and $6 million for senior meal programs for the 2023 fiscal year.
"The bill itself is a measure of how severely the state and anti-hunger advocates are taking this," Kingston ShareNet Executive Director Mark Ince told me.
I encourage our legislative delegation to pass the bill, to provide our food banks and programs that relief, and I hope you'll join me by letting your representative know of your support.
The other day I heard a quote by astronaut Mae Jemison, who was the first Black woman to travel in space, on the space shuttle Endeavour in 1992. She was asked why South Africa, a country facing endemic issues with poverty and hunger each day, would bother to spend money on an observatory. She told an audience that every person is entitled to dream, and why wouldn't a rural South African, living in a mud hut with few resources, not still gaze at the stars and wonder about his or her place in the universe?
The quote struck me because each of Kitsap and North Mason's food banks still dream. They do it despite the daily needs, the challenges, the setbacks or the hunger cliff. I have heard stories of investment (like Kingston ShareNet approaching its second anniversary in a new building and the Salvation Army soon adding a new food pantry facility), of deeper engagement (Bremerton Foodline will soon renovate its exterior grounds and start a collaborative project with neighboring Bremerton High students), of attracting talent (Maxim's departure in NK welcomes a new director in March), and of big, big dreams (look for news soon on organizations like South Kitsap Helpline and St. Vincent DePaul launching capital campaigns to dramatically improve physical locations so they can better serve each community).
I can only imagine the effort it takes each day to meet and embrace the challenges that show up for each of the nine agencies in Kitsap and North Mason that our fundraiser supports. It must take some serious dreams. You all support those dreams when you join us on the Bellringer, and I'm thankful for the chance to hear and share them back.
David Nelson has been editor of the Kitsap Sun since 2009. Contact him at david.nelson@kitsapsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: What can be done about a 'hunger cliff' facing our community
