MOUNT VERNON — Hurricane Ian is the most recent example of what communities face after disaster strikes. Power outages, supply chain disruptions, and other problems can quickly affect a community’s food security.
When the unexpected occurs, local food pantries respond quickly. But what happens if a long-term response is needed? Or the food pantries themselves are affected by the disaster, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic?
That long-term possibility is why Chaplain Tracy Elder says Knox County needs to create a food cache to mitigate food issues during and after a pandemic or other disaster.
“Food pantries are a temporary measure; they are finite,” Elder, the founder of the Mount Vernon-based International Alliance of Community Chaplains, told the Knox County commissioners earlier this month. “They may or may not be supplied during an emergency.”
Elder said the I.A.O.C.C. “fills gaps between other agencies,” providing services such as transportation, financial aid, and food in time of need.
Locally, KC3 chaplains (Knox Community Chaplain Corps) provided some of those wrap-around services during COVID-19. The 40 to 50 KC3 chaplains are among the more than 80 chaplains the I.A.O.C.C. has trained.
Elder said the KC3 is looking to place chaplains in local relief agencies to “provide those wrap-around services when there’s no other way to do that.”
In addition to the COVID-19 experience, Elder noted increasing inflation and interrupted supply lines as potential long-term problems communities are facing.
“We’ve always felt if we can get ahead of something and plan for it, then we’d be in a position to help,” she said. “Government response is sometimes limited, and it’s not long term.”
Hence the food cache. Elder said if the county had a food cache, it would have something to mitigate food disruption when things get darker.
“Most people don’t have the resources or forethought to do that,” she said.
Elder proposes a county-wide pilot program modeled after the World Food Programme, a component of the United Nations. A group of local stakeholders and organizations would oversee the program.
She is looking for a warehouse for long-term food storage; the facility will also serve as the operations center for the KC3. The plan is to “continue to fund raise and pay for the building as we go along.”
In addition to the private individuals and companies already donating to the I.A.O.C.C, Elder plans to talk with the Mid-Ohio Food Bank and Feeding America about helping with the food supply. Mid-Ohio is part of Feeding America’s network.
She suggested using the Knox County Emergency Management Agency’s Commodities Point of Distribution plan to deliver the food.
Keeping in mind expiration dates, Elder said the items in the food cache would be rotated out to existing food pantries. The cache would include the following:
•Rice, flour, pasta, and cereal
•Dried beans, peas, and meats
•Canned fish and meats
•Canned or bottled fruit juice, vegetables, and fruit
•Dry milk or canned evaporated milk
•Cooking oil, salt, sugar, and other condiments
As far as who the food cache would serve, Elder said the pandemic affected low- and middle-class individuals the most. Knox County’s starting point would be about 25,000 to 35,000 residents who make less than $47,000 a year based on 200% of the poverty level.
Elder asked the commissioners for a letter of support to start the coalition, asking stakeholders to come to the table, talk, and “be a part of the planning.” She also plans to go to the business community for support.
Elder said the food cache program is designed to bring cohesion between existing food pantries, not be another pantry. As of Oct. 4, she had not yet approached local pantry officials or existing food organizations, opting to talk with the commissioners first.
“If we don’t have the support of the county, it is much more difficult to go back to these other organizations,” she explained.
Commissioner Thom Collier said that some items in the food cache are not what individuals would choose at a food pantry but noted that they would eat those items with long-term food scarcity.
“People will have to learn to make a pot of something that will sustain them for a couple of days,” he said.
Of the idea itself, he said, “It does raise the question of what if the grocery store shelves are bare and the food pantry shelves are bare, what’s next?”
“I think it’s a great idea. The size and scope of it really concerns me,” EMA Director Mark Maxwell said. “You have a challenge of feeding people today; how are we going to store that?”
He also noted that even if the food cache served 30,000 people, what about the other 30,000 in the county?
“If we’re talking about people starving to death, we are talking a lot of people,” he said. “The idea is great; implementation is huge.
“Volunteers from EMA can certainly help distribute from the warehouse to the food pantries,” he continued. “As a pilot project, a village would be a better starting point than the county.”
“If we’re working within the World Food Programme, it would be manageable because that’s what they do,” Elder responded. “It’s going to be a learning curve of how and who. We are trying to bring as many experts to the table as we can, no matter what the number of people or scale is.”
