By Sheena A. Kadi
The one in three Coloradans – 1.8 million people, that’s more people than could fill Bronco’s Stadium 23 times – who are struggling to put food on the table will NOT see a new item in government-funded relief packages of fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, and meat: a letter signed by Donald Trump.
The letter, printed on White House letterhead in both English and Spanish, touts the administration’s response to the coronavirus, including aid provided through the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, a US Department of Agriculture initiative to buy fresh food and ship it to needy families.
Trump’s letter purports to reinforce public health measures against the coronavirus, urging people to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the letter’s advice contradicts the CDC’s actual guidelines on face coverings, which Trump has resisted despite expert consensus. The letter says to “consider wearing a face covering when in public,” whereas the CDC says more definitively, “Cover your mouth and nose with a mask when around others.”
The boxes with the letter contained in them was first received by food distribution organizations in Denver on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. Denver Community Food Access Coalition (DCFAC) organizations have removed these letters from the food boxes before distributing the food to Coloradans.
“We are not pawns in this election. The largest public health and economic crisis Colorado has ever seen is not the time to exploit taxpayers hard-earned dollars and manipulate overworked direct service providers in an attempt to bolster one’s own reelection campaign,” said Teva Sinicki, Chief Executive Officer of Metro Caring, one of the DCFAC coalition members.
These food boxes are helpful for the Coloradans who have been able to receive them; however, they are not meeting all the additional needs that COVID has created, nor solving the existing systemic problems that this pandemic has exacerbated. In previous federal economic responses, the United States government has put cash in the pockets of Americans, helping low-income folks pay for basic expenses like housing, food, medicine, and transportation, while stimulating local economies.
There’s a better way to support Coloradans: by expanding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which delivers benefits electronically and allows people to buy the food they need at local grocery stores, and renewing Pandemic EBT.
The Farmers to Families Food Box Program
The USDA awarded contracts to dozens of companies that promised to buy fresh vegetables, milk and meat, package the food, and get it to people who need it by delivering it through nonprofit organizations, mainly food banks. The USDA announced recently that contractors have delivered 75 million boxes so far.
The Farmers to Families Food Box Program was designed by the USDA earlier this year after the pandemic heightened food insecurity among U.S. households and hurt farmers. With restaurants and schools shuttered due to shutdowns, farmers lost major clients overnight, causing some dairy farmers to dump milk and farmers to plow growing and ripening fields.
Aside from the letter, the food box program has recently come under fire for relying on questionable vendors, failing to match supplies with needs, slow response times, and gaps in geographical areas that need the program the most.
About Denver Community Food Access Coalition (DCFAC)
Founded in 2019, DCFAC is a coalition of nine organizations that works to ensure that all of Denver’s residents possess sufficient income and access to grow, purchase, and cook healthy, culturally relevant food for themselves and their families within their communities.
The DCFAC is comprised of Hunger Free Colorado, Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver Food Rescue, The GrowHaus, Metro Caring, Denver Urban Gardens, Re:Vision, Sprout City Farms, and Montbello Organizing Committee.
Sheena A. Kadi is Director of Strategy and Communications for Metro Caring
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