WEBVTT - How Will Food Banks Meet Demand Related to COVID-19?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Lauren vog Obam here. This episode is part of

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<v Speaker 1>our ongoing series surrounding the novel type of coronavirus identified

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<v Speaker 1>in which causes what's therefore being called COVID nineteen. Because

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<v Speaker 1>everything is a little less scary when you understand it better.

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<v Speaker 1>With children at home and countless adults out of work,

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<v Speaker 1>food pantries and food banks are more important than ever

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<v Speaker 1>for many Americans. They've been the difference between eating and

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<v Speaker 1>not eating for years. With the novel coronavirus pandemic, that

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<v Speaker 1>demand for food could soar higher than we've seen in

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<v Speaker 1>our lifetimes, And so what do we do to ensure

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<v Speaker 1>these essential local food pantries stay afloat? Honestly, it won't

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<v Speaker 1>be easy. We took, for example, our local Atlanta Community

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<v Speaker 1>Food Bank, which as one of the ten largest food

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<v Speaker 1>banks in the world, distributes more than sixty million meals

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<v Speaker 1>to more than seven people across the Metro Atlanta area

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<v Speaker 1>and North Georgia. But maintaining those numbers isn't its only concern.

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<v Speaker 1>The food bank is usually staffed by hundreds of volunteers.

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<v Speaker 1>Now it has zero. It discontinued its volunteer programs to

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<v Speaker 1>help curb the spread of the virus, and the staff

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<v Speaker 1>is brainstorming new approaches to tackle COVID nineteen head on.

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<v Speaker 1>We spoke with Kyle Wade, President and CEO of the

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<v Speaker 1>Atlantic Community Food Bank. He said, we have to adopt

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<v Speaker 1>distribution methods and minimize the number of workers coming in

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<v Speaker 1>and out, and instead of asking people to come into

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<v Speaker 1>pantries to shop as they would in a grocery store,

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<v Speaker 1>we're asking pantries to prepackaged food into bags and boxes

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<v Speaker 1>for drive through distributions where the client never leaves the car.

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<v Speaker 1>Other food banks across the country are similarly adapting. In Ohio,

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<v Speaker 1>one of the earliest states to impose restaurant closures and

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<v Speaker 1>self isolation rules, food banks stopped serving hot food and

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<v Speaker 1>began distributing brown bag grabb and go meals. According to

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<v Speaker 1>ABC and Toledo, staff members at local food pantry Helping

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<v Speaker 1>Hands of St. Louis are wearing gloves and in some

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<v Speaker 1>case masks, and they're using tape on the sidewalk to

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<v Speaker 1>show clients where to stand for proper social distancing while

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<v Speaker 1>waiting for food. Their team had to stop accepting donations entirely.

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<v Speaker 1>After curbing its volunteer program for safety and harvest, Hope

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<v Speaker 1>Food Bank in South Carolina shifted its distribution model to

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<v Speaker 1>drive through only to limit person to person contact with

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<v Speaker 1>COVID nineteen shuttering businesses across the country, The need to

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<v Speaker 1>feed the hungry grows rapidly at the same time grocery

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<v Speaker 1>stores are overrun with scared shoppers. Though rest assured supply

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<v Speaker 1>chain experts say that toilet paper supplies will be restocked

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<v Speaker 1>and general food supplies should become more normal as panic

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<v Speaker 1>buying subsides. So how will food banks access the bulk

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<v Speaker 1>of supplies they need? For one, Wade says, the Atlantic

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<v Speaker 1>Community Food Bank will lean heavily on partner farmers. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>farms have excess produce and that's a big part of

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<v Speaker 1>our supply chain right now, so we'll rely on that

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<v Speaker 1>even more. Because of pre existing grocery store partnerships, food

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<v Speaker 1>pantries can source bulk products quickly and with better margins

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<v Speaker 1>than consumers, and that's why food banks around the country

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<v Speaker 1>are asking community members to donate funds instead of food.

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<v Speaker 1>Wade said, you can give me a can of food

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<v Speaker 1>that costs you a dollar or you can give me

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<v Speaker 1>a dollar and I can get nine cans of food.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the same even outside disaster times. For the

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<v Speaker 1>Atlanta Community Food Bank, funds are also more essential than

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<v Speaker 1>ever because they, like many other nonprofits, have had to

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<v Speaker 1>cancel fundraising events. In March of twenty nineteen, their Hunger

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<v Speaker 1>Walk run generated eighty thou dollars with ten thousand participants,

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<v Speaker 1>but this year it's been canceled. School closures across the

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<v Speaker 1>country could leave up to thirty million kids without meals,

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<v Speaker 1>according to CNBC. That's because the National School Program feeds

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<v Speaker 1>up to thirty million children per day, the correlated Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>Program feeds fourteen point seven million children daily, and the

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<v Speaker 1>Child and Adult Care Food Program serves more than six

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<v Speaker 1>point one million children. With schools closed, national and local

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<v Speaker 1>groups are doing their best to keep children fed. In

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<v Speaker 1>North Carolina, for example, No Kid Hungry and See is

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<v Speaker 1>continuously updating a list of free school meal locations. In

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<v Speaker 1>northern Kentucky, restaurants like Poseidon's Pizza Company are supplementing local

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<v Speaker 1>school cafeteria efforts by offering free small pizzas to k

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<v Speaker 1>through twelve kids. According to Fox nineteen, celebrity chef Jose

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<v Speaker 1>Andres turned his New York City and Washington d C

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<v Speaker 1>Michelin starred restaurants into take away kitchens to help those

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<v Speaker 1>in need. Employees are asking for seven dollars per meal,

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<v Speaker 1>although those who can't afford to pay don't have to.

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<v Speaker 1>Andreas is also working with other restaurants to serve as

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<v Speaker 1>community kitchens to cook for World Central Kitchen, and he's

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<v Speaker 1>calling on more to do the same where possible, and

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<v Speaker 1>food pantries can help with this too. The Atlantic Community

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<v Speaker 1>Food Bank is bringing supplemental food to five local school districts,

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<v Speaker 1>adding to the resources local cafeterias have in place for

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<v Speaker 1>daily meals for children and their families. Wade said, we're

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<v Speaker 1>providing about ten thousand pounds that's kilos of food per

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<v Speaker 1>week per site right now. That's about a quarter of

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<v Speaker 1>a million pounds of food we expect to provide these

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<v Speaker 1>schools altogether. The Feeding American Network, which the Atlantic Community

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<v Speaker 1>Food Bank is a partner member of, is taking unprecedented

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<v Speaker 1>steps to insure its members are able to feed people

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<v Speaker 1>in their local neighborhoods. Feeding America launched a COVID nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>Response Fund, a national food and fundraising effort to support

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<v Speaker 1>people facing hunger. They're working with government leaders to insure

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<v Speaker 1>its response include support and flexibility for federal nutrition programs,

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<v Speaker 1>ensuring that the twenty two million children who rely on

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<v Speaker 1>school meals have access to food outside of the classroom,

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<v Speaker 1>building an inventory of emergency food boxes to just tribute

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<v Speaker 1>to food banks as need increases, and providing emergency grants

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<v Speaker 1>to food banks. As food banks rushed to meet increased demands,

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<v Speaker 1>They're doing so without one of their loyal donor groups, restaurants,

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<v Speaker 1>which are largely either closed or operating with limited menus

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<v Speaker 1>of takeout and delivery only, and have had to lay

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<v Speaker 1>off many employees. Waite says that the local restaurants are

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<v Speaker 1>essential partners for the food bank, but it's not the

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<v Speaker 1>food donations from them that he's worried about. Quote, since

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<v Speaker 1>restaurants are increasingly skilled at eliminating waste, the food from

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<v Speaker 1>restaurants is a tiny component of the food we distribute.

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<v Speaker 1>Our hearts are breaking for our restaurant partners and the

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<v Speaker 1>industry because we know many of the people will serve

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<v Speaker 1>in the months and years to come will be people

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<v Speaker 1>in that industry. But for organizations like the Atlanta Community

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<v Speaker 1>Food Bank, a little goes a long way. Big donations

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<v Speaker 1>from celebrities like Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who gave

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred thousand dollars to the food Bank and to

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<v Speaker 1>Giving Kitchen, which is an Atlanta nonprofit that provides emergencies.

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<v Speaker 1>This int two food service workers will keep many Georgians fed.

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<v Speaker 1>But Wade acknowledges that times are tight. You don't need

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<v Speaker 1>a huge bank account to make a difference, he said.

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<v Speaker 1>Even if you can't donate cash, you can spread the

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<v Speaker 1>words so people know about the food Bank. The need

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<v Speaker 1>is tremendous. Everyone wants to help, and even letting your

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<v Speaker 1>network know about the food bank services can make a difference.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episodes written by Stephanie Vermilion and produced by Tyler Klang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and lots of other topics, visit

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