"A perfect storm': US facing hunger crisis as demand for food banks soars"
An unprecedented number of Americans have resorted to food banks for emergency supplies since the coronavirus pandemic triggered widespread layoffs.
The demand for food aid has increased as much as eightfold in some areas, according to an investigation by the Guardian, which gives a nationwide snapshot of the hunger crisis facing the US as millions become unemployed.
About one in three people seeking groceries at not-for-profit pantries last month have never previously needed emergency food aid, according to interviews with a dozen providers across the country.
The national guard has been deployed to help food banks cope with rising demand in cities including Cleveland, Phoenix and St Louis amid growing concerns that supplies may run low as the crisis evolves.
Overstretched food pantries are switching to drive-thrus and home deliveries to minimize the spread of Covid-19 as almost 300 million Americans are urged to stay at home.
Last year, 4.3 billion meals were distributed to more than 40 million Americans through a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 pantries, schools, soup kitchens and shelters, according to Feeding America, the national food bank network.
The Greater Cleveland f(Ohio) food bank received 800 calls to its helpline during one day last week – eight times the usual number. “I’ve never seen anything like it in over 20 years of service. We’re seeing people from every socio-economic level because the majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck,” said the food bank’s CEO, Kristin Warzocha.
Half of American adults have either no emergency savings or not enough to cover three months of living expenses, according to Bankrate’s 2019 Financial Security Index.
Bloomberg first reported the FEMA request for body bags on April 1, 2020.
In total, St Mary’s – the oldest known food bank in the world – supplies 700 pantries, shelters, churches and social service centers in seven counties where one in five children struggle with hunger.
“First we saw people who lived paycheck to paycheck, got laid off and didn’t know where the next meal was coming from, followed by those who had a couple of weeks of savings. Now, people who knew about us because they donated or volunteered are coming in for food,” said Jerry Brown, media spokesman for St Mary’s. “The 2008 recession doesn’t touch this. It’s a different ballgame.”
“Philanthropy and not-for-profits are not going to be able to meet food demands. The government needs to step in,” said Kellie O’Connell, chief executive of the Lakeview pantry in Chicago.
Caitlin Welsh, director of global food security at the Washington based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: “The supply chain is strong but as the number of food insecure people increases continuously, we’ll perhaps need a new wave of federal legislation directed specifically at household food security.
“These numbers show that the pandemic is causing economic shocks never experienced in our lifetime.”
SO WHAT DOES FEMA DO, FEMA WHOM TRUMP PUT IN CHARGE OF THIS COVID-19 MESS?
FEMA HASN'T BOTHERED TO UPDATE THEIR "Emergency Operations Center Assessment Checklist" SINCE 2015, SO IT'S HARD TO TELL.
FEMA IS UPDATING ITS "Industry Liaison Program" SO BIG BUSINESS CAN SEND THEM ESTIMATES AND BIDS.Federal Business Opportunities Website – www.fbo.gov (also known as FedBizOpps or FBO). FedBizOpps was the single point-of-entry to search, monitor, and retrieve Federal procurement opportunities.
That's been moved to beta.SAM.gov and is now known as Contract Opportunities.
You will also find subcontractor, award notifications, supplier and "teaming opportunities" there.
IS FEMA LOOKING FOR MREs (Meals Ready To Eat)?
NO, ONLY THE DEPT. OF DEFENSE IS, FOR THEIR TROOPS IN EUROPE AND AFRICA.
FEMA IS LOOKING TO BUY SURGICAL MASKS.
OTHER MEDICAL SUPPLIES.
THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION IS LOOKING FOR MORTUARY TRAILERS FOR BODIES.
AND V.A. IS ALSO LOOKING FOR VENTILATORS.
BTW, DID YOU SEE THIS ARTICLE?
March 17, 2020: "VA's mission to see civilian patients in times of crisis vanished from its website". -- Washington Post.
NO TREATING COVID-19 CIVILIANS.
MEANWHILE, FEMA IS CURRENTLY ACQUIRING BODY BAGS FROM THE PENTAGON.
Bloomberg was first to report the request:
Pentagon Confirms It’s Seeking 100,000 Body Bags in Virus Crisis
The Pentagon confirmed that it’s seeking to provide FEMA with as many as 100,000 military-style body bags for potential civilian use as the U.S. warns that deaths could soar in the coming weeks from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Defense Logistics Agency doesn’t yet have a specific delivery date request from FEMA but the agency wants them as soon as they are ready, and the Pentagon is close to agreement with its current contractor on the numbers and time lines.
As many as 200,000 Americans are projected to die in the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, a top White House official said Tuesday, even with another 30 days of the most stringent public health restrictions in place. Reviewing the projections, President Donald Trump warned Americans of a difficult period ahead.
“This is going to be a painful two weeks,” Trump said at the White House on Tuesday. “Our strength will be tested, our endurance will be tried.”
Hospitals in places including New York and New Jersey have been securing refrigerated trucks to help hold bodies in areas where capacity for storing them has run out.
The U.S. now has the most cases officially recorded globally with more than 234,000, according to Johns Hopkins University, which draws on a combination of data sources -- from governments to the World Health Organization and local media -- to feed its tallies. Next is Italy, with 115,000, the JHU data show. Italy has the highest death toll with almost 14,000 virus fatalities, followed by Spain.
FEMA seeks 100,000 body bags from Pentagon as coronavirus pandemic worsens.
USA TODAY, April 2,2020
Known as mortuary pouches, the heavy-duty zippered bags are typically used in the military to contain the remains of troops killed in combat. Wednesday, more than 1,000 people died of the coronavirus in the USA, raising the death toll over 5,000. A week ago, the total was less than 1,300.
"The Department of Defense and the Defense Logistics Agency have a long-standing arrangement with FEMA to procure key commodities from DLA's industrial partners during crisis response operations,” Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Andrews, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement Thursday. “DLA is currently responding to FEMA's prudent planning efforts for 100,000 pouches to address mortuary contingencies on behalf of state health agencies."
HOW DID FEMA BECOME SO POWERFUL?
Created by President Carter in 1979, elevated to Cabinet level in 1993 under Clinton, and incorporated into the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 under Bush #2, FEMA is charged with guiding the federal response to the nation’s disasters — both natural and man-made.
The agency manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration as well as helps prepare state and local emergency managers by providing first responder and emergency preparedness training. The Department of Homeland Security channels funding to federal operations and provides grants to state and local agencies.
FEMA defers to state and local emergency teams to handle disasters at their level.
If a city cannot respond, the county or the state provides help.
If the state lacks the resources, the federal government responds, but only at the request of the governor and on the recommendation of the region’s FEMA director.
In order to tap into FEMA resources, the state’s governor must submit a letter to the president requesting to formally invoke the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. In the letter, the governor estimates what resources would be necessary to assist state and local crews responding to the situation.
The governor’s request doesn’t go directly to the president; instead, the regional FEMA director makes recommendations to the undersecretary of emergency preparedness and response, also known as the director of FEMA. The undersecretary then makes recommendations to the head of the Department of Homeland Security, who then briefs the president on the situation.
“It’s always the state’s call. The state tells what kind of help they need. We don’t come in and take over,” said Philip Clark, spokesman for FEMA’s Region III which includes Washington, D.C., Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
“The Congress assumes responsibility begins at the local level and moves up. Congress didn’t mean for FEMA to come in to every disaster.”
If the president approves a federal response, he has the power to provide the resources requested from the state but the federal government is not meant to completely take over the situation.
The president can, however, authorize executive orders that allow the federal government to assume control of transportation, communication, food resources, and all airports and aircraft.
And Trump did just that last month...handed the pandemic' over to FEMA.
So, America, based on a current actual death rate here of 1.74% for this new virus thing, actual name, SARS-CoV2, FEMA, in its uncanny 'wisdom' (??) ordered up these 100,000 body bags that the Pentagon will now provide.
WHY?
BECAUSE DRs. DOOM AND GLOOM, BIRX AND FAUCI OF THE FAILURE AGENCY, U.S. DEPT. OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, SAID 200,000 OR MORE AMERICANS WILL DIE OF COVID-19?
"By April 15, when the death count is expected to peak, more than 2,200 Americans will die of the disease per day, according to their 'model'."
WHO IN AMERICA IS THINKING ABOUT AID FOR THE SURVIVORS?
As PBS wrote Sept. 9, 2005,
"The delayed federal response to Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast has led many officials, including President Bush, who called the initial response “not acceptable,” to question FEMA’s preparedness for a natural disaster.
From the local level, officials complained of communication breakdowns and the lack of leadership from the federal government, particularly from FEMA Director Michael Brown. Reports of FEMA turning down personnel and supplies offered by police forces and emergency crews further drew fire from Congress and others who said the agency failed to respond adequately.
On Sept. 9, 2005, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff pulled Brown from the role of managing Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s office blamed bureaucracy and layers of red tape for blocking an effective emergency effort.
“We wanted helicopters, food and water. They wanted to negotiate an organizational chart,” Blanco’s press secretary Denise Bottcher told the New York Times.
The delayed federal response prompted politicians to question FEMA’s organization and leadership.
DO NOT COUNT ON FEMA, OR ANY OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY TO HELP SAVE YOU.
REMEMBER HURRICANE KATRINA AND HOW BADLY THAT PLAYED OUT.
MAKE YOUR FAMILY'S PLANS NOW AND PREPARE FOR MONTHS, AT LEAST, OF 100% SELF-RELIANCE, COME HELL OR HIGH WATER.
WITH AN EXTRA-HEAVY BURDEN ON THE FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN SINCE SCHOOLS CLOSED AND WORKERS WERE SENT HOME OR PERMANENTLY LAID OFF, NOTHING IS SHIPPING AS QUICKLY AS IT DID AND MANY ITEMS ARE JUST NOT SHIPPING, PRECEDENCE GOING INSTEAD TO THE MOST USED, MOST NEEDED SUPPLIES.
WITH CONTINUED PANIC BUYING, RESTOCKING HAS BECOME AN ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TASK IN THE MORE POPULATED AREAS AND THOSE AREAS SEEM TO RECEIVE GOODS MORE QUICKLY WHILE MORE RURAL AREAS ARE LEFT TO LANGUISH.
THE POWER GRID IS BECOMING OVERBURDENED AS WELL, SO PREPARE FOR THAT ANY WAY YOU CAN. IF ELECTRIC COMPANIES CAN'T KEEP UP WITH DEMAND, BE AWARE THAT SOME WATER-PUMPING STATIONS WILL CEASE DELIVERING WATER THROUGH THOSE PIPES.
LOCATE ALTERNATIVE WATER SUPPLIES AND WATER STORAGE METHODS NOW.
ATTEND TO PRESCRIPTION DRUG NEEDS QUICKLY AND GATHER ANY OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDS, HOME MEDICAL SUPPLIES, EMERGENCY ITEMS AND SUPPLEMENTS, ETC, THAT YOU MAY NEED NOW.
WALL STREET GOT ITS WISH TODAY WHEN RUSSIA AND SAUDI ARABIA AGREED TO SLOW OIL PRODUCTION TO RAISE PRICES.
GASOLINE, HOME HEATING FUEL, DIESEL FOR TRUCKERS ALL SKYROCKETED IMMEDIATELY.
HOW CAN SHELTER-IN-PLACE HOUSEHOLDS, ALREADY FINANCIALLY STRAPPED, AFFORD SUCH A RAPID RISE IN GAS AND HEATING FUELS, IN FOOD?
BUT THE STOCK MARKET BRIEFLY RALLIED.
WALL STREET HATES LOW PRICES FOR AMERICANS AND ALWAYS CELEBRATES WHEN HIGH OIL PRICES ARRIVE.
WE'RE ON OUR OWN, AMERICA. PREPARE AS BEST AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN
PANDEMIC SUPPLIES LIST FOR FAMILIES
Not an ideal or totally doable list, but it gives us a clue where to start, if we haven't done so already.
Panic stricken people, desperate for food, supplies of all kinds, even water, are arguably even more dangerous than this virus.
The more people surrounding you who are prepared for this pandemic to last for months, even a year or more, the safer YOU will be.
You’ll be more secure if neighbors won’t be eyeing your resources.
Encourage everyone to make rational choices to lay in whatever they can without becoming panicked hoarders.
PREPARE YOURSELVES AND LOVED ONES TO RIDE OUT THIS STORM.
FEMA WILL BE NO HELP...UNLESS WE NEED BODY BAGS.
MAY YOU ALL BE SAFE AND WELL.
AND SANE.
________________________________
END NOTES:
-- A 'FAIR' EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS WEBSITE, BUT THEY PUSH A LOT OF PRODUCTS. I DON'T ADVISE "SIGNING UP" FOR ANYTHING.
-- FARMING NATIVE AMERICAN STYLE
BUY SEED NOW.
-- 6 Ways to Cook Outdoors (without charcoal or propane)
LEARN ABOUT 'ROCKET STOVES' IF NOTHING ELSE.
-- How to Make a 'Storm Glass' to Predict the Weather
-- EAT THE WEEDS AND OTHER WILD PLANTS
-- HOW MANY OTHERS ARE OUT THERE?
Testing kits which were headed to the UK have been found to be contaminated with coronavirus.
A production firm, Luxembourg-based manufacturer Eurofins, told UK labs on Monday that deliveries would be delayed as core parts had been contaminated with coronavirus, the Telegraph reported.
//WW
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