Jade Young
March 8, 2021 - Third Draft
The Covid-19 Pandemic Hunger Crisis
By Jade Young
Diagnosed with cancer, Sharmila Munga, a woman from Queens, noticed that in early March, her food began to run out. Scared to enter the hallway and leave her home because of Covid-19, Munga couldn’t get necessities because of an immunocompromised system. The supermarket stopped deliveries and her temple closed. She couldn’t get through to 311, the city information and service number, and felt embarrassed to ask for help because she sees herself as self reliant. When she ran out of food, she drank water and ate pieces of paper and tissues. She loved cooking shows but had to stop watching them, and even dreamt that an apple pie was chasing her. She also took meds in the morning to kill the hunger. She felt like she was drowning and light and sound bothered her.
Sharmila’s story is not uncommon. The current pandemic has caused many people to go hungry. People who had never experienced hunger before had something new on their hands. As reported by researchers at Hunter College, “Prior to COVID-19, nearly 15 percent of New York City residents were already food insecure. Since the pandemic that number has risen to 25 percent.” One thing that lowered in contrast during Covid, was the amount of open food pantries. One third of all food pantries and soup kitchens closed in New York City, a main reason being that the volunteers were elders and at risk. The pantries that stayed open had a lot to work with, including early hours and longer lines, curving around multiple blocks. All types of people come. Old, young, Black, white. And for a variety of reasons. Maybe the family money supplier was put out of work. Some people can't even go to work because they're living with people who are subject to the virus. If you really want to help or really need help but don’t know what to do, here’s one thing that could be really helpful.
It’s called a community fridge. They consist of fresh fruits, produce, and more. Preferably, you should put healthy foods only because people who come are mostly eating unhealthy food, since you’ll find that it’s much cheaper. To spread the word, you can send out emails or letters to places like schools and print out flyers to put up in public places. People can come to community fridges to receive or leave food. You can get monetary donations or food donations, and you will also have volunteers most likely, so you would not be doing all the work by yourself. They feed many and run on local power. They could be very beneficial to the future of communities in poverty all over the world.
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