Food banks in Texas have gone into disaster mode as they push their operations to tackle famine after unprecedented freezing conditions disrupted almost every part of the food supply chain in the state.
Grocery stores are empty, school meal programs have been suspended, and deliveries are being interrupted by untreated treacherous roads that have left millions of Texans trapped in appalling living conditions with dwindling food supplies.
Even those that accumulated before the Arctic conditions blew in have lost refrigerated groceries due to long power outages and cannot cook food without electricity or gas.
In the areas worst affected, food banks and pantry had to be closed for several days this week as it was impossible for staff and vehicles to get to the distribution sites. Relief was limited to disaster doses sent to people seeking shelter in warm shelters.
The disruption of energy and safe water supply on Thursday caused food banks to scramble to purchase large quantities of bottled water and ready-made meals and snacks that did not need to be boiled.
“It’s a disaster. We do a quick needs assessment so we can get food for the people quickly. “If everything thaws, we are preparing for a huge increase in demand,” said Valerie Hawthorne, director of government relations at the North Texas Food Bank in Dallas. “It was the longest week of our lives.”
Before the big freeze, this food bank operated two distribution sites every day, serving between 300 and 1,500 families at each pop-up location. This week, they have all been canceled, although one is planned for Saturday, leaving thousands of families without enough food or dependent on family members, neighbors and mutual aid groups.
In addition to the common people, advocates expect an increase in workers with a low-paid service industry – who are often just one or two salaries hungry and will not be paid this week because many restaurants and bars had to close.
Hunger was a serious problem in Texas even before the pandemic and the latest weather disaster, with about 4.3 million Texans struggling with hunger in 2019, including one in five children.
Covid caused an economic crisis that led to a demand for food aid that doubled in many parts of Texas amid record-breaking and underemployment.
According to Houston Food Bank CEO Brian Greene, the extraordinary freeze has once again exposed deep-seated inequalities that will make it much harder for low-income households to recover. “The aftermath of each disaster is much more difficult for low-income families, who are going to be in greater trouble even after the power and water have arrived again,” he said.
According to research by the Federal Reserve, nearly two-fifths of Americans do not have enough cash or savings to handle an unexpected expense of $ 400, such as burst pipes or a collapsible roof.
In the rural district of Brazoria, south of Houston, the pantry reopened Thursday, serving 140 families in just two hours – compared to 170 families typically seen during a typical week. About 75% were beginners who were desperate for food and water and had enough for three days because that was all the pantry had available.
“It’s crazy. People are out of options. They went over to get what they can,” said Terri Willis, executive director of the Brazoria County Dream Center, which operates the pantry. “We are all in disaster mode.”
Long queues stretch outside grocery stores with empty shelves, and water supplies were interrupted by cooking advice and burst pipes; electricity is needed for those in rural areas with private wells.
Willis is particularly concerned about the vulnerable children in the district, as her organization usually provides a backpack on weekends for 620 children who are otherwise hungry. The schools are closed, so those children will be without. “It’s sad. I was one of the kids who was starving over the weekend. I pray that their parents can come here, “said Willis.
In Dallas, young people are also very concerned: across the country, 87% of school children live in low-income households. Thousands are dependent on free school meals, and some receive four meals a day – breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner – but many schools were unable to offer anything this week due to power outages, burst pipes, water advice and shortages.
Lawyers are also concerned about the residents of the city who rely on food aid to eat enough and may have been cut off from all services for several days. ‘These are the seniors that most of us liked this week. “They are really the most vulnerable population, and we just do not know how many people could ask for help,” Hawthorne said.
On the other side of the food chain, fruit and vegetable crops in the Rio Grande Valley have been devastated by the extreme cold, while dairy farmers across the state are pouring millions of dollars of milk into the drain because they cannot get it for dairies. The decline in production can have short- and medium-term consequences for availability and prices.
Scientists have long warned that global warming is causing extreme weather events to become more frequent and intense – and that they strike in places that are not used to and poorly equipped to handle the extreme heat or icy temperatures.
According to Molly Anderson, director of the food study program at Middlebury College in Vermont, the disruption of food supplies in Texas shows how weak the US is in overcoming the climate crisis.
“What we are seeing in Texas shows a lack of planning for resilience and a failure to realize that the climate here is strange and that it is already having an effect on the food chain,” she said.