Bay Area food bank numbers tell a sobering story
A single father of two young children was in tears when he called Second Harvest of Silicon Valley’s Food Connection Hotline — it was the first time he needed to ask for help. Like so many in the Bay Area right now, this hardworking dad unexpectedly found himself out of work because of the pandemic and needed help feeding his kids. The anguish in his voice was familiar; calls like this have become a regular occurrence over the past 10 months. In fact, the food bank — one of seven Bay Area food banks spanning Santa Cruz to Wine Country — has been receiving an average of 7,700 calls for help every month.
The numbers tell a sobering story. Even before the pandemic, Second Harvest was providing food to an average of 250,000 people a month, more than ever before in its history. That number has doubled to 500,000 people a month — the population of Sacramento — since the pandemic started. In the East Bay, Alameda County Community Food Bank has similarly seen a doubling of residents experiencing some level of food insecurity, while the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano now is serving 100,000 more people than before the pandemic.
In total, local food banks estimate at least 1.5 million people in the Bay Area are in need of food bank assistance — a staggering and once unthinkable number. For Bay Area food banks, the dramatic spike in need does not come as a surprise. We’ve been sounding the alarm for years. The pandemic has magnified what we have known all along — there is a huge economic divide in this region. For years, a large segment of our community has been living paycheck to paycheck as they try to survive in one of the most expensive areas in the country, one unexpected setback away from economic collapse.
San Jose — like Oakland or Concord or San Francisco — is a tale of two cities. One is driven by thriving industry and tech, prosperity and innovation in one of the wealthiest regions of the world. The other is one of despair, in which the economic fallout of the pandemic suddenly pushed hardworking people and already stretched families even deeper into poverty, many for the first time. As we enter the 10th month of shelter in place, hundreds of thousands of our neighbors have exhausted their savings and are experiencing levels of food insecurity, eviction, job setbacks and overdue bills previously unimaginable.
Food banks have been on the front lines every day making sure that anyone who needs nutritious food can get it. But as the need has exploded, so has the financial and operational strain of responding to this crisis. Even now, as elevated shelter-in-place orders are in effect, low-income residents are facing additional pressures, and more people are reaching out for help. In Oakland, Alameda County Community Food Bank’s own Emergency Food Helpline has seen its daily call volume double since the beginning of November. Potential declines in unemployment benefits and the end of rent moratoriums, with many families owing untenable amounts of back rent, will further impact need.
We cannot fight hunger alone. Government and community support now are more essential than ever. If you can, we urge you to volunteer and donate funds to food banks and to advocate for critical government programs that ensure our neighbors have access to the food and other services they need during the holidays and all year long.
In total, local food banks estimate at least 1.5 million people in the Bay Area are in need of food bank assistance.
Leslie Bacho is CEO of Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. Suzan Bateson is executive director of the Alameda County Community Food Bank. Joel Sjostrom is president and CEO of the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.