Texas food banks face shortage of groceries during coronavirus recession - The Texas Tribune

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Texas food banks face shortage of groceries during coronavirus recession - The Texas Tribune

Texas food banks face shortage of groceries during coronavirus recession - The Texas Tribune

Posted: 07 Dec 2020 03:00 AM PST

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Food banks across Texas are projecting food shortages in coming months due to the end of three key federal and state programs that have helped them respond to high demand during the coronavirus pandemic and its accompanying recession.

"Food insecurity is twice as high as before the pandemic. We've had a lot of federal aid and that's all going away at the end of the year," said Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas, which coordinates the 21 food banks in the state. "We are facing a kind of a food cliff and we are worried of how long we are going to be able to keep up with demand without the help of the federal government."

According to a November survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 2.5 million households in Texas either sometimes or often did not have enough food to eat in the week prior to the poll. And 66% of these households were either Hispanic or Black.

The worries about a looming food shortage come as two main unemployment programs that significantly expand jobless assistance — and a federal moratorium on evictions — are set to expire at the end of December. If Congress doesn't act on another pandemic stimulus package, many Texans will lose at least some of their unemployment benefits.

More than 3.8 million Texans have applied for unemployment benefits since March, but the outdated and understaffed unemployment insurance office left countless Texans frustrated as they try to navigate a confusing system for getting aid.

It also comes as Texas faces another major surge in coronavirus infections.

Feeding Texas is currently gathering data from food banks across the state, and Cole is concerned by what she is hearing so far. The Houston Food Bank, the largest in Texas, estimates that in the next three to six months it will need to distribute 20 million pounds of food monthly, but that they will be 5 million short. In El Paso, an area that is currently experiencing a devastating outbreak of COVID-19 cases, the gap could be 11 million pounds of food each month.

"We are seeing a different population, lots of people that have never come to a food bank before, people that didn't have the assets to weather a period of unemployment," Cole said.

One of them is Quinn Smoot, a 32-year-old resident of West Houston. Before the pandemic, Smoot and their partner would even donate to the food pantry from time to time.

"I never thought I would ever have to go to the food pantry," Smoot said. "We were financially set."

But their income quickly dropped as they lost work hours and had to juggle mental health issues and taking care of their 9 year old, who has autism. Currently, Smoot has managed to find a stable job as technical support for a telecommunications company, but if they don't have access to food from their local pantry, they know they will have a hard time getting back on their feet.

"We are still behind on things. I'm behind on rent, behind on my home internet, which I rely on to work. I've been sick with no health insurance," Smoot said. "Fresh food is super expensive here in the neighborhood, but there I can get apples, potatoes and not just canned and processed food."

First: Hundreds of cars line up in the parking lot of Lehman High School in Kyle to receive food from the Central Texas Food Bank. Last: Tam Vo, right, a senior Biochemistry major at the University of Texas in Austin, loads a box of food into a truck. Vo is from Katy and volunteers with the Central Texas Food Bank. Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune

The main federal program that is ending provided around $100 million dollars in food to Texas food banks in 2020, according to Feeding Texas calculations. The Food Purchase and Distribution Program was created to help farmers affected by the trade war between President Donald Trump's administration and China and Europe. This ended up helping hunger organizations, as the food bought by the U.S. Department of Agriculture from these farmers ended up being distributed to food banks across the country.

"We knew that this would last two years, but we didn't know that we would have a pandemic," said Valerie Hawthorne, government relations director of the North Texas Food Bank, where the end of the program will mean 17 million fewer pounds of food for next year. "Farmers are still struggling and we are not sure of what will happen to that food. All we know is that we won't be receiving it."

Funding for this program ended in September, but food banks are receiving some of the groceries bought with these funds into December.

Another USDA initiative that is ending is the Farmers to Families Food Box program, which was part of the Trump administration's response to the pandemic. According to the USDA, this program provided more than 124 million food boxes worth close to $4 billion nationwide.

"This was the icing on the cake, but it was a huge icing," Hawthorne said.

This program was only funded until December of this year and it hasn't been renewed for 2021.

Texas food banks are also concerned by a 40% cut in funding of a Texas Department of Agriculture program that buys surplus produce from farmers — fruits and vegetables that are of good quality but don't fill the standards of major retail stores — and distributes it to food banks.

"There's millions of pounds of this surplus," said Brian Greene, president and CEO of the Houston Food Bank. "Between that and the major cuts from federal programs, we are looking for a real problem as we get to December and especially when we go into January."

TDA spokesperson Mark Loeffler said that the agency "essentially did not have a choice" after Gov. Greg Abbott and the Legislative Budget Board asked for a 5% cut to the state's general revenue spending.

"Because TDA is almost entirely a cost recovery agency (meaning programs are funded by fees collected within that program) we have very little ... to cut," said Loeffler in an email. "Consequently, the only place TDA can usually cut ... is in the grants that are appropriated to us by the Legislature."

Loeffler also added that these cuts are not final and that the agency asked the Legislature to restore these grants during next year's legislative session.

Cole, from Feeding Texans, said that restoring these funds and preventing future cuts will be their main priority during the 2021 legislative session. But local food banks are also pushing for an increase in donations.

Volunteers load boxes of food into a car during a drive-thru food distribution hosted by the Central Texas Food Bank at the …
Volunteers load boxes of food into a car during a drive-thru food distribution. The Central Texas Food Bank hosted a distribution event at the Travis County Expo Center in Austin in June. Credit: Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune

"You look at the pedals you can control and see how hard you can push them. We are trying to add significantly to our produce budget and fundraise for that," Greene said. "Our other problem is laborers."

Due to COVID-19, food banks have lost volunteers, but have also had to decrease the capacity of their working areas. In the Houston Food Bank, they used to have up to 1,000 workers at a time in their workrooms. Now they only allow 150.

"But then the bigger issue is filing the shifts because there's so much reluctance to volunteer," Greene said. "We've been making up for that by hiring laid-off hospitality people, but then the funds to do that expire at the end of December, so we are trying to raise money to keep that going."

Food banks are also calling for stronger promotion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. According to USDA data from 2017, Texas ranked as the state with the eighth lowest participation on these benefits.

"We knew before COVID that more needed to be done to connect people with SNAP and that Texas was one of those places where this was the case," said Ellen Vollinger, legal director of Food Research & Action Center. "If more people are connected to SNAP, it's not only good for them in terms of health and well-being, but it would be good for the economy."

Vollinger said that this benefit is a fast solution for people that suddenly lose income and that it also quickly injects money into the economy. According to the USDA, for each dollar spent in this program, the gross domestic product increases between 80 cents and $1.50.

"Our message to this administration is please use all the tools in the toolbox," Vollinger said. "The food banks are stepping up. Government needs to step up just as high."

Disclosure: Apple and Feeding Texas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

LA City Starts Taking Applications For $800 Relief Stipends For Food Workers - LAist

Posted: 07 Dec 2020 12:15 PM PST

While Gov. Gavin Newsom's weekly COVID-19 press conferences are usually held Mondays at noon, he delivered a coronavirus update this morning due to the California Legislature being back in session. The earlier press conference follows Southern California entering a stricter state-mandated stay-at-home order as of Sunday night, due to the region's available ICU capacity dipping below 15%.

Read highlights below or watch the full press conference above.

NEW CALIFORNIA COVID-19 EXPOSURE NOTIFICATION APP AVAILABLE THURSDAY

Gov. Newsom said that Apple and Google have joined forces to help provide exposure notifications, which Newsom noted isn't the same as contact tracing. The state is releasing an app, "CA Notify," which allows you to opt-in to notifications of potential COVID-19 exposure.

Newsom stressed that the app does not track location, and that it's fully opt-in, private, and secure.

The app's effectiveness will depend on people choosing to use it, Newsom noted, adding that Apple and Google plan to promote its use in the state. Newsom said that the state doesn't expect tens of millions users of the app, but hopes that enough users will make a difference.

The new app will be available this Thursday for Android and iOS devices. An alert about the availability of the app will likely go out Wednesday, Newsom said.

Your phone will exchange anonymous keys when you are near someone else with the app enabled. If you test positive for COVID-19 and consent for the app to alert other users, it will tell those you've been in contact in the past 14 days who have these notifications enabled.

The pilot program for this app began with the University of California system, with more than 250,000 users so far at seven campuses. Since it launched, there have been more than 60 positive test notifications.

LATEST CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS

There were 24,735 new COVID-19 cases statewide in the most recent reporting period, with a seven-day average of 21,924 cases. Over the past three days, the average was about 25,000 new cases per day, Newsom said.

The state's 14-day test positivity rate is 8.4% and continues to rise. That's up from 3.4% a month ago. An average of 209,740 tests were conducted over the past seven days. Two days ago, almost 300,000 tests were conducted in a 24-hour period. The state continues to work to increase its testing numbers.

The length of time it takes to return test results across the country has started to grow, which Newsom said is why the state has opened its own COVID-19 lab that is continuing to increase its capacity.

There has been a 72% increase in hospitalized COVID-19 patients over the past 14 days, with 10,070 patients currently hospitalized. Currently, 14% of hospital capacity is used by COVID-19 patients, while 63% of the state's beds are being used. The state also has additional surge capacity available. Elective surgeries are being pulled back in some areas as well.

The effects of Thanksgiving travel and gatherings are starting to be seen in the numbers, and those effects are expected for many days to come, said California Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly. The levels of transmission seen so far are likely to continue to rise due to Thanksgiving mixing, according to Ghaly.

ICU NUMBERS TRIGGER 2 REGIONAL STAY-AT-HOME ORDERS

COVID-19-positive ICU admissions are up 69% over the past two weeks. There are 2,360 of those patients currently admitted to ICUs.

Available ICU capacity is down to 14.2%.

Stay-at-home orders go into effect when any of the state's five regions falls below 15% ICU capacity. Southern California's order went into effect last night after officially going below that number on Saturday. The San Joaquin Valley region has also been put under a regional stay-at-home order.

As of late last night, Southern California has 10.9% available capacity in its ICUs, while the San Joaquin Valley has 6.3% of its beds available. This compares with 28.2% availability in Northern California, 25.7% in the Bay Area, and 20.3% in the Greater Sacramento region.

Despite still having more availability in its ICUs, the Bay Area region has voluntarily entered a stay-at-home order.

The state continues to be concerned about staffing. Newsom said this will be the most challenging issue amid the current surge of COVID-19, especially with staff being fatigued due to the length of this pandemic. The state is working with contract staffing agencies to bring in additional medical personnel and has requested additional staff from the federal government.

The Home O2 program is being used in areas that need to move patients out of ICUs to be at home with oxygen and paramedic support. The plan is for Riverside/San Bernardino to have the capacity for 100 such patients in the coming weeks, while the program goes into effect in Imperial County this week.

The state has an active group in its Health Corps of approximately 900 members ready to be deployed, and the state is asking medical workers who've recently retired or allowed their licenses to expire to join up. Qualified health care professionals are being asked to sign up on the state's COVID-19 website.

There are nine facilities in "warm status" being prepared across the state, including Fairview Development Center in Orange County with 180 beds, and the Riverside County Fairgrounds in Riverside with 125 beds. They can be activated within 48-96 hours, if appropriately staffed, according to Newsom.

FIRST CALIFORNIA VACCINE DELIVERY COMING DEC. 15

California submitted its first orders for COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, with the delivery expected around Dec. 15. The first doses will go to facilities that will vaccinate their high-risk health care workers. Those facilities have plans in place to conduct vaccinations.

Newsom said for planning purposes there will be 2.16 million first vaccine doses available in December.

The FDA is expected to approve Pfizer's vaccine on Dec. 10, and it is set to discuss Moderna's vaccine a week later.

The state's Community Vaccine Advisory Committee meets Wednesday to discuss the next phase of vaccination, "Phase 1b." The meeting will be open to the public.

The state has six steps in its vaccine process. The first step includes enrolling providers and allocating doses with local health departments.

Next, California Public Health will review local health department orders and submit them to the CDC. The state received those orders on Friday. Those orders will then be fulfilled, with Pfizer doing its own distribution, while Moderna uses McKesson. The vaccine will ship from distribution centers to California providers.

Once providers receive the vaccine, they will store it according to "cold-chain requirements," then administer the vaccine.

The state expects additional cold and ultra-cold storage units to arrive at the end of this month and in early January to help with the distribution of the vaccine.

Newsom said that this is the third wave of infection, and that a fourth isn't expected thanks to the vaccine being on the way.

CALIFORNIA AG'S NOMINATION FOR HEALTH SECRETARY

Newsom said that having current California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as Biden's cabinet pick for health and human services secretary will be a "game changer" for California, and help with the state's health care ambitions.

NEW CALIFORNIA PUBLIC HEALTH DIRECTOR: TOMÁS ARAGÓN

Newsom announced a new California Public Health Director, Tomás Aragón, who has been serving as the health officer for the city and county of San Francisco and director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Population Health Division since 2011.

Dr. Sonia Angell resigned the position in August, following a snafu regarding the reporting of coronavirus cases. She was replaced on an interim basis by Sandra Shewy.

PUBLIC EDUCATION

The state is moving forward with a broader public education campaign, including new billboards, to get people to socially distance. The campaign includes material in English, Spanish, Hmong, Punjabi, Russian and other languages. The state is also partnering with the California Grocers Association, the California Fire Foundation and others to help spread these messages.

Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter. To support our nonprofit public service journalism: Donate now.

Vanguard Renewables in Agawam unwraps, grinds spoiled food, drink for energy, organic fertilizer - MassLive.com

Posted: 07 Dec 2020 02:00 AM PST

AGAWAM — Mega Thor has come to Agawam, and is hungry, consuming up to 250 tons a day of spoiled yogurt, out-of-date pie filling and leftover coconut flakes that otherwise would have been headed to a landfill or an incinerator.

When the newly installed beast is thirsty, it can drain eight kegs of stale beer at a time in a pumping process that takes 12 minutes.

The plant gets lots of beer now with COVID-19 having shut down bars and depressed keg consumption.

The Thor — it's a name brand for the machinery — is at Vanguard Renewables organics recycling facility on Main Street which unpackages, crushes and turns into sully expired foods, out-of-spec batches and unsafe-to-eat food and beverage products. The packaging often gets recycled, said John Hanselman, chairman and CEO of Vanguard Renewables.

The food, once liquefied by mechanical hammers goes to one of six dairy farms – Deerfield, Hadley, Spencer, Rutland, Haverhill and Salisbury, Vermont -- where Vanguard his installed anaerobic digesters.

The huge digesters are tanks that act as stomachs where microbes take the food slurry and the cow manure and turn it into gas for power generation and organic green fertilizer. Vanguard blends the food so the microbes get the right amount of sugar.

"Supporting New England's dairy farmers is what we're all about," Hanselman said

The plant – which represents millions of dollars in investment – opened just six weeks ago and Vanguard is already talking about expanding it and adding a second shift. There are six employees now.

Hanselman and other executives got a chance Thursday to show off the facility to town and state officials.

Current customers include MGM Springfield and factories and distributors across New England and upstate New York. A state law passed in 2014 requires food processors and kitchens to recycle or compost food waste, Hanselman said. And the minimum size to fall under the law just went lower, meaning operations as small as a single grocery store now must comply.

"Everyone wants to comply with the law," he said. "But they don't wat to have to mess with their garbage. They just want to throw it away.

The plant holds up to 60,000 gallons of food slurry.

And there is a carbon air filter that changes all the air in the building six to 10 times an hour to control the smell.

Agawam Mayor William Sappelli said Vanguard's proposal to the town was thorough and professional.

"They did everything right," he said.

Hanselman said Agawam is a perfect location because its on Interstate 91 and that's a good route to the farms where there are anerobic digesters.

Also there for the tour were Agawam's statehouse delegation: state Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield, and state Rep. Nicholas A. Boldyga, R-Southwick.

Five Fantastic Food and Drink Gifts for Discerning Food-Lovers - Eater

Posted: 07 Dec 2020 12:28 PM PST

This post originally appeared on December 5, 2020 in Amanda Kludt's newsletter "From the Editor," a roundup of the most vital news and stories in the food world each week. Read the archives and subscribe now.

I am a gift guide fiend. I don't have that many people to shop for. I don't shop all that much for myself. But I love perusing lists of products and items that have escaped my attention, of fashionable bowls and useful gadgets and pungent sauces I could have in my life if I just clicked a button.

Luckily, here at Eater, we have a plethora of guides, from our big national picks of products and experiences to locally focused lists in over a dozen cities we cover. I especially love the local ones, because they have restaurant-related products my New York friends might not know about. So, because exactly one reader asked me, I've sifted through all of these and added some of my faves to offer a very brief, but hopefully helpful, restaurant- and food-themed gift guide.

This is very much a shameless plug for something my team launched this year, but I sincerely love it. We created the wine subscription box that we wanted in our lives: A monthly offering of exciting wines chosen by extremely cool wine pros from our favorite restaurants and wine shops across America. I gifted myself a four-bottle ongoing subscription and sent one-off boxes to some select aunts, cousins, and friends.

I got my hands on the new baking book from my favorite itinerant pastry chef, Melissa Weller, just before Thanksgiving, and her approach to an all-butter crust 1,000 percent upped my game last week. Her recipes are challenging but provide huge payoffs, so I recommend the book for any dedicated baker in your life. Same goes for Claire Saffitz's Dessert Person. Her recipes are harder than I think she thinks they are, but they're worthwhile for any true, ahem, dessert person.

Blankets sold at King restaurant in New York
King

I'm a sucker for good restaurant merch, and I've taken a shine to the latest COVID-appropriate offering: blankets. I got one at NYC's Raoul's last week — it's $15 and akin to an airplane blanket — and am eyeing the ones at Hunky Dory and Four Horseman. The King blanket is something to behold, but I can't personally pony up the $120.

My colleague Lesley Suter just convinced me to buy these pricey cookie stamps to bring some extra joy and professionalism to my holiday cookie experience. Forty dollars seems like a lot to invest in a seasonal baking accessory, but I feel like these have the potential to stick around for decades. I'll be very smug if my grandchildren end up using them someday.

The Poketo/Takenaka bento box collab
Poketo

I am not this person, but I have a lot of people in my life who would swoon over this cute bento box collab between Poketo and Takenaka. It's a good gift because you might not want to spend $40 sprucing up your own lunch life, but you know a friend who deserves it.

Other ideas

Cozy, funny, and/or stylish restaurant merch; an exciting condiment from Dana Cowin's collection of products from women-owned brands as a stocking stuffer; Culinary Backstreets' travel-inspired gift box; the poignant and funny Waffle House Vistas; and the arch and wildly useful cocktail book Drink What You Want from John deBary.

Or (!) just go to our How to Help guide and make a donation in your friend's name.

More cities around the country are pulling back on dining. Dallas is now at 50 percent indoor capacity, Vegas at 25 percent, D.C. heading to 25 percent. The enforcement of new restrictions has ranged from pulled liquor licenses and fines (Michigan) to arrests (Staten Island).

In LA, where only delivery and takeout is allowed, restaurateurs are demanding evidence to prove outdoor dining has led to a rise in COVID-19 cases, and a judge agreed that officials need to offer up the data. Meanwhile, some cities within LA County are threatening to secede from the health department's jurisdiction to avoid the restrictions. But it will all be moot if the whole region of Southern California enters a state-mandated stay-at-home order in the next few days.

One prominent restaurateur in the area is calling for an industrywide rent strike.

Elsewhere, restaurants across the country are entering hibernation mode as they see little upside to trying to stay open through fits and starts and colder weather. Other groups, like Danny Meyer's USHG and Chicago's Boka Group, have shifted to takeout and delivery only.

And in London, the month-long lockdown ended this week, as restaurants and pubs eased into a new phase of uncertainty.

A fancy dining room at night with green velvet chairs and dizzying wallpaper.
I'm not sure what's happening at Chifa in LA, but at least they went for it.
Wonho Frank Lee

Openings: In London, Cafe Deco, chef Anna Tobias's long-awaited ode to the beauty of brown food; in D.C., Michael Schlow's American Glover Park Grill; in Cambridge, a stateside iteration of Tehran's La Saison Bakery; and in LA, the craziest-looking restaurant I've seen all year, a Peruvian place in Eagle Rock called Chifa.

— Closures: Yours Truly in Los Angeles; Blue Smoke in New York; and Pok Pok Wing in Vegas.

— In other news: A survey from One Fair Wage found that the pandemic has exacerbated sexual harassment within restaurants; Chicago implemented a fee cap for third-party delivery services; the group behind Alinea and Next will open two restaurants within an upcoming downtown skyscraper; and star Raleigh restaurants Bida Manda and Brewery Bhavana fostered an atmosphere of misbehavior, abuse of power, and inappropriate sexual conduct.

— Some sweetness: We tested out the best way to send cookies in the mail; Joshua David Stein reviewed Steve McQueen's excellent Mangrove; dive bar owners shared their grief over the death of Alex Trebek; and Ryan Sutton discovered Colombian diner Empanada Mama is still nourishing its Hell's Kitchen neighborhood (even late at night) during the pandemic.

Lake Ridge rotary collects over 1,600 pounds of food - PotomacLocal.com

Posted: 07 Dec 2020 12:36 PM PST

Some Prince William County residents are part of the millions of people that need food to get through this holiday season.

On Saturday, November 21, Lake Ridge Rotary did its annual "Done-In-A-Day" food drive outside of a Safeway grocery store at Tackett's Mill in Lake ridge, ACTS, and Lake Ridge Fellowship House be part of the solution.

Over a dozen civic group members donned masks and gloves to safely pass out shopping lists with requested items to shoppers who went into the store throughout the day. Items included canned vegetables, canned tuna, soups as well as hygiene items like toothpaste and deodorant.

Shoppers could deposit their items on two large tables covered with Rotary table clothes on their way out. Multiple individuals gave cash, which was used to buy more expensive items like denture adhesive.

The day started at 9:30 a.m. with two empty tables, but as the day wore on, individuals would bring both small and large donations to members to place on the table. At the end of the day, a tower of donated items stooks on the tables.

According to former Club President Allen McBride, over 1,600 pounds of food and hygiene items were collected — twice as much as was collected last year. Over $200 was collected as well to help purchase needed items.

"We have all been cooped up for a long time, and there is a lot of need out there, so it just feels good to give back," said Lake Ridge Rotarian Diana Gulotta, who donated groceries to the effort.

Half of the donations went to the food pantry at the Lake Ridge Fellowship House, a subsidized senior living community for low-income seniors, located right next to Tackett's Mill shopping center. The other half of the collection was donated to Action in the Community Through Service (ACTS), a local non-profit located in Dumfries. According to ACTS, they have been distributing, on average, around 60,000 pounds of food per month during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Thank you to all of the residents who donated to our food drive. The community really showed up to support those in need.  I am proud of our Rotary Club members giving of their time to help make Done-In-A-Day a huge success," said Lake Ridge Rotary Club President Ben Hazekamp.

Lake Ridge Rotary was founded in 1988 and is part of the Club of Rotary International, which has a global network of 1.2 million members who work to unite people to make lasting change.

Lake Ridge Rotary has several annual service projects, which include Done-In-A-Day, bell ringing for the Salvation Army, and putting up flags near the McCoart complex. The Club meets weekly on Wednesday mornings at 7:30 a.m. in person at Tall Oaks Community Center, located at 12298 Cotton Mill Drive, and virtually on Zoom.


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