The national poverty rate jumped from 7.8% in 2021 to 12.4% in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The reason: COVID pandemic-era programs helping with food, rent, and unemployment ended — and now food banks are seeing crushing demand.
Karima Hirani, food pantry coordinator at the Islamic Center of Southern California near LA’s Koreatown, says the organization typically assembled 150-180 food boxes per week for clients, but those numbers doubled when the emergency food stamp benefits ran out in February-March this year. They collaborated with the LA Food Bank and Food Forward to meet the increased need.
She points out that before the pandemic, clients were mainly elderly Chinese, Korean, and Filipino people. Now more unhoused people, younger families, Caucasians, Latinos, and Blacks are showing up. They’re grateful and sometimes line up for hours in advance.
“We try to accommodate everybody that comes in, even if we run out of the fresh produce, etc. It's very hard for us to turn anyone away, but sometimes we do,” she says.
Overall, food insecurity is just one part of the problem, and the larger issue is that capitalism is not working for the working poor, Hirani emphasizes. “ It's a systemic problem. I don't see it getting better. It's sad.”