The early months of the pandemic were marked by long lines of cars and people showing up at food pantries and grocery giveaways all around the country. The D.C. area was no exception.
The abrupt disruption the pandemic brought revealed not just those who were struggling, but those who had been on the tipping point: Suddenly, their struggles got worse too.
A task force put together in Prince George’s County, Maryland, worked for more than a year to come up with solutions that would mitigate those problems. Earlier this month, a nearly 50-page report that detailed several recommendations was published.
Now, the county government has to figure out how to turn the words into actions.
County Council member Todd Turner, who chaired the committee, said that starts by hiring someone whose focus is on coordinating all the different efforts at the county level. That’s the first recommendation in the report.
“All the things that are part of the recommendations,” Turner said, “need kind of a central point to start pushing that.”
The report noted that data collection that documents the existing problems, especially where they are, can better help drive policy decisions.
“You need that information in order to direct your policy decisions,” Turner noted.
Too many times, people also didn’t know there were benefits and programs available to them, or to their children, and that could also impact how other services are doled out and funded. Maximizing participation among those eligible also a crucial investment, according to the report.
But the report also looks ahead to “next time,” whenever that may be. It recommends the county come up with an emergency food security plan. One way to help is to make sure food pantries and nonprofits have increased access for bulk purchasing.
In many cases, food pantries get stocked through donations from grocery stores, or buy things at a heavily subsidized cost. When the pandemic hit, store shelves were often empty and grocery stores didn’t have much to donate, meaning “the traditional ways that particularly the not-for-profit providers were getting food, wasn’t necessarily available,” Turner said.
Increasing access to food security also means making sure grocery stores are nearby, and tax incentives are being used to lure them to neighborhoods where there aren’t many options. Offering those who need it transportation to get to those stores is also discussed. But sometimes thinking outside the box can make a dent.
One such innovation Turner cited was a joint project between the Capital Area Food Bank and Giant food to establish a “mobile grocery store.”
“It had been tried in the District of Columbia, particularly in Southeast,” Turner noted. “Obviously we allow for ice cream trucks to go around and sell their products. So we said let’s use that model to allow for a grocery to go to targeted areas, areas we know we are lacking in groceries, to allow for fresh vegetables and fruits, you know milk and eggs and those kind of things.”
“Hopefully us all coming together as part of this process gave us a way forward,” Turner concluded.
