When COVID-19 swept in to target the world, and eventually, the United States, citizens had to prepare for the many changes that would ensue. Virtually every sector of each American’s way of life changed in a matter of days.
One change that became a force so strong, it spread as though it were a virus, is food insecurity. Rates across the country skyrocketed, and the state of New Jersey was no exception.
“Our CEO has been in foodbanking for decades, and he was telling me, he never imagined that this is something we would be responding to. We never imagined that this would be possible,” said the Communications & Public Relations Manager of Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Nicole Williams, 26.
COVID's Beginnings
The novel coronavirus first entered the country in January of 2019, after originating in China, with the first case appearing on the West Coast in Washington state.
With ferocity, the virus found its way to the tri-state area, ultimately classifying New York City as the epicenter in March 2020. With the areas density, the virus hit the northern region of New Jersey shortly thereafter.
Hospitals began to flood as cases went up, leading to an increased death toll and a wider spread. In time, all states across the country were impacted in their own way as the months of 2020 have progressed.
Now, in December 2020, the CDC reports over 16 million cases nationwide, and just shy of 300,000 confirmed deaths.
The strain of hospital overflow, the rise in unemployment rates, the closure of local businesses and schools, and the difficulties of quarantine were broadcasted as some of the most defining issues to come out of the pandemic.
An issue that in some ways took a back burner, but became equally as vital, is food insecurity.
According to an October data projection from Feeding America, the food insecurity rates prior to the pandemic were the lowest they had seen in 20 years. When the pandemic hit the nation, the impact completely wiped out all improvements made over the last decade, now showing similar rates seen during the Great Recession.
Important factors that directly impact a state’s food insecurity rate is the annual unemployment rate, which is now up at least 6.6 percent nationally, and the poverty rates, up almost 3 percent, the study reports. Due to the drastic impact on the economy, more and more people are projected to become food insecure, even if they have never been in their entire life.
The study also found that before the pandemic, there were more than 35 million people living in a food insecure household across the nation. In 2020, 1 in 6 people (50 million people) will experience food insecurity and of those people, 1 in 4 (11 million people) will be children.
The five states in the nation with the largest projected food insecurity increase between 2018 and 2020 are Massachusetts, New Jersey, Nevada, Hawaii and Illinois.
Moving Closer to Home
The state of New Jersey was not exempt from the increase, and based on data, is one of the most impact states in the region.
The Community Foodbank of New Jersey, the state's largest anti-hunger and poverty organization, found that New Jersey is projected to have the highest increase in food insecurity, with over 1.2 million residents food insecure in 2020, compared to other states like Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware and the U.S. average. Over 400,000 of the 1.2 million residents are newly food insecure in 2020.
“The statistic that I think is most striking and most accurately represents what we have been seeing right now during COVID-19 is that there is projected to be an increase of about 56 percent in food insecurity, and that is as a direct result of the pandemic. Just a few months ago those numbers were statistical projections, but as the months have gone on we have been able to verify those statistics as what we’re actually seeing,” Williams said.
When the first wave of the virus hit, northern New Jersey counties like Bergen and Passaic were immediately impacted due to their proximity to New York City.
“When it first started happening, we actually had to close for a week or so to reevaluate our processes. We lost a lot of our volunteers because many of them are older and retired. Everybody was scared. But, then we realized that you know, this is what we’re here for. We’re here for people in times of need, so we need to figure out how to do this, and we did,” said Linda Somwaru, 61, the site manager at the Mahwah and Ringwood locations of The Center for Food Action, a Bergen and Passaic County based organization.
The organization gives food, but they are also an advocacy organization and work with those in need as a support system to give them the necessary help so that they no longer need to come in for food.
Across the five centers they have over the two counties, they have seen a 50 percent increase in need, and are now exclusively only holding food drives.
“It’s not just the chronically poor, but, a lot of new people that are in a new situation who have never experienced this before. I had people who tell me ‘You know, I used to donate to you and now I have to come in and get food.’ So, it is quite alarming. A lot of your neighbors are in need,” Somwaru said.
The increase has been a shock, especially to a county like Bergen where the median household income in 2019 was just over $100,000, according to U.S. Census data.
On average, Somwaru serves around 4,000 households a month. And, between 2019 and 2020, they already saw a 41 percent increase in households served, going from 13,600 to 23,000. Total people served between 2019 and 2020 doubled, going from 34,513 to 67,370.
“If I look at the numbers and the fact that the total number of people doubled, that is because there are a lot more families with children coming in,” Somwaru said.
Though most counties across the state are seeing an increase in child food insecurity, no county has seen a higher increase then Cape May County, which already had an issue prior to the pandemic with a tourism reliant economy.
“The overall food insecurity rate encompasses everybody, adults, seniors, children. The percent increases in child food insecurity are worse overall,” Williams said. The overall food insecurity rate increase for the state is 56 percent, but more specifically, the increase for child food insecurity statewide is 75 percent. “Cape May County has the highest projected increase in child food insecurity, even higher than Atlantic County, at about 30 percent.”
These numbers of child food insecurity are disproportionately higher than surrounding states again, with New Jersey nearly twice as high as the percentage increase in Delaware and over 10 percent higher than the U.S. average.
Every single county in the state is projected to see an increase in food insecurity, even those with previously low rates prior to the pandemic.
Because of this massive rise, The Community Foodbank of New Jersey has had to change their role as well, hosting large events where people can either drive up to get food placed in their trunk, or walk up for a low-contact donation in more urban areas where cars are less common.
“That’s not typically how we operate. The foodbank is a 285,000 square foot warehouse, the size of five football fields, and typically we’re the middle man moving our food that we purchase or get, donating to the soup kitchens and food pantries that we work with. Since COVID began, there’s been a need for these large scale events that we have been hosting throughout the state,” Williams said.
“The lines at those events are always long,” Williams noted, “I was just at one last month where we didn’t start giving out food until 8:30, but I arrived at 6 a.m. and there were already people there waiting in line. What we're really seeing is mile long lines of people who have never had to ask for help before in their lives and people who were already struggling for food before the pandemic are worse off than they ever have been. It’s really frightening to see.”
Of all counties in New Jersey, Atlantic County was expected to have the highest increase in overall food insecurity, and current demand is actualizing this projection.
“South Jersey is much worse off. Even the areas in northern New Jersey that are seeing the greatest increases aren’t seeing as much of an increase as South Jersey. Atlantic City and those surrounding towns’ economy is really driven by the casinos and related restaurant and hospitality businesses. With the business shutdowns, people are really suffering down there. Even as the casinos have gradually started to open, not everyone has gotten their job back and the ones who have gotten them back don’t have as many hours,” Williams said.
According to a 2020 study from The Brookings Institute, Atlantic City was found to be the third highest city at risk in the nation for economic destruction as a result of the COVID-19 recession, and is projected to have a difficult recovery path.
In Atlantic County, Community Foodbank of New Jersey does their large scale events biweekly, in comparison to other counties like Union, which is monthly. Throughout the other counties in the state, it is more sporadic. Per distribution, they typically feed 2,000 to 2,500 households, but they will be anticipating 3,600 households with their next event on Dec. 18 at Bader Field in Atlantic City.
Ways to Help
“It’s been mentally and physically exhausting. But, I can tell you that people are very grateful and people who are not having as hard of a time are so willing to help those who are. They’re coming out and dropping food off here every single day. We have people coming to the window to write us a check. People want to help each other, and that is heartwarming,” Somwaru said.
Though the community effort has been far and wide and Somwaru knows she is doing what needs to be done, she misses the advocacy work they were able to do before the pandemic. Now, she can only talk through the phone, making it harder to help. All of their time at Center for Food Action is now dedicated toward making sure they have enough food each month.
“Right now, we need money or supermarket gift cards. We’re talking about over 4,000 families per month. It is a lot of food we have to come up with. Before the pandemic, we were getting great stuff like fresh fruits and vegetables and some of that has all gone away because the supermarkets are in the same boat,” Somwaru said.
With such an increased demand for food from the supermarkets, Community Foodbank of New Jersey is also getting less donations and now needs to purchase food themselves.
“What we really need is people’s financial support if they can provide it. No amount is too big or too small. Before the pandemic, more than half the food we had coming in was donated food. Most of our donations come from supermarkets. When they have surplus, they give it to us, but there has been issues with the supply chain. Food is becoming more difficult to get and people are panic buying,” Williams said.
Williams has also stated that more and more food pantries and soup kitchens are popping up with need for food donations from the foodbank as well. All hands have been on deck and people who previously worked for a different department in Community Foodbank of New Jersey have had to take on new roles and responsibilities.
“We all feel strongly about doing whatever it takes to make sure that people have enough to eat,” Williams said, especially since they are a part of the state’s emergency response plan.
“We responded when hurricane Sandy happened, we responded when 9/11 happened, the economic downturn of 2008, but despite all of the emergency response protocols we have in place, we never imagined that we would be responding to something of this scale,” Williams said.
The best way to help is to donate to the organizations in your area and state, and see if they need volunteers.
In addition to that, check on the people in your community.
“Check on one another. Keep in touch and check in on your neighbors and make sure everything is okay, and if it’s not, make sure to help them and find the right resources for them,” Somwaru said, “Our towns, our state, our country needs to be in this together.”