Rural food banks find a way to deliver as hunger hits pandemic high in the US; Biden increases some food aid

For millions of low-income people living in rural areas around the country, getting to a grocery store or a food bank can be a major barrier to getting enough to eat," Samantha Fields reports for Marketplace. The coronavirus pandemic has compounded that problem, and food banks and pantries realized early on that they had to figure out ways to bring food to people, even though home delivery can be a logistical challenge in rural areas.

But, though hunger is up, private donations of food and money are generally up too, especially with fresh produce from farmers. The president of one rural food bank in Maine said the increased produce and the shift to home delivery are changes she hopes will stick around after the pandemic, Fields reports.

Though the relief package in December allotted $400 million to supply food banks, billions of dollars in food aid expired at the end of the year, meaning more people will need food banks. "The country’s largest network of food banks is bracing for a 50 percent reduction in food received from the government this year, even as demand soars," according to a multimedia story from The Washington Post that illustrates the problem of hunger during the pandemic.

Nearly 30 million adults reported they sometimes or often didn't have enough to eat in the last week, according to the latest Census Bureau data from Dec. 17, the Post reports. That number encompasses 14% of households overall and 18% of households with children. That's the highest number reported during the pandemic.

President Biden announced Friday a 15% increase in food aid payments for low-income families with children through the Pandemic-EBT program. P-EBT "was created last spring to help replace the subsidized or free meals that tens of millions of children normally get at school," Helena Bottemiller Evich reports for Politico. The program gives households benefits on a debit-like card that can only be used to buy groceries." 

However, payments under the program have been repeatedly delayed, and the "vast majority" of households hadn't received any P-EBT payments as of last month, even though the funds had been authorized in September. "Many states have not even sent USDA their plans for approval, which means the aid will be even further delayed," Evich reports. "It's not clear whether the increase will be applied to the many months of benefits that are owed to most families that are eligible."

Also, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it will work with the Justice Department to see whether it can increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments to the nearly 40% of recipient households that have seen no real increase in such benefits during the pandemic, Evich reports. The USDA is also working on updating the criteria used to determine SNAP payment levels, a task the 2018 Farm Bill directed the department to complete by 2022. A department spokesperson said the current criteria are "out of date with the economic realities most struggling households face when trying to buy and prepare healthy food," Evich reports.