COVID-19 sent the world into a tailspin in more ways than one. Families living paycheck to paycheck were now faced with an additional crisis: hunger. Food insecurity became an issue when businesses unceremoniously ceased operations due to the worldwide lockdown, leaving many families without income or a place to turn for necessities. Food banks emerged as a national resource to keep hunger at bay. These outlets do not distribute meals or ingredients to individuals but instead act as a repository for government agencies and charitable organizations to stock up on items to be distributed to the public.

Feeding America, one of the largest organizations acting as a lifeline for those struggling with food insecurity, estimates that food banks ensured the distribution of 6 billion meals to individuals facing hunger in 2020. Not only that, but food banks are serving 55% more people than before the COVID-19 crisis. With financial analysts speculating that a recession is right around the corner, food banks desperately need donations, volunteers, and, more importantly, dietary variation. 

Vegan meal prep entrepreneur Mindy Poortinga told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2021, “I’m an ethical vegan, so I don’t like the killing of the animals and the cruelty aspect of it. So I didn’t want to volunteer at places where I’m handing out animal products that I’m not feeling good about.” Poortinga took to Facebook and started her very own plant-based food pantry. “I couldn’t believe how many people were interested,” she said.

According to AFP News Agency, even vegan soldiers fighting in Ukraine have benefitted from food providers and volunteers cooking meals for those with plant-based lifestyles. That nation’s war against Russia began in February 2022 – just two years after the global coronavirus quarantine. “There are many vegans in the army and some of them want to stay vegan no matter what. We want to be their support as much as possible,” Tamara Human, a volunteer, noted. However, providing food to those in need is not a new concept. Food banks have been around in America since 1967, when John van Hengel founded St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix, Arizona. Before then, there were soup kitchens during the Great Depression and almshouses decades earlier, providing room and board for families with low incomes.

Food banks are the MVP of our post-COVID society because people are still in need during this time of uncertainty, and they continue to provide without falter. Unlike public assistance programs, which often require a lot of paperwork and gridlock to get much-needed help, food pantries that access their inventory from food banks can get meals to the public without as much red tape. With dietary trends shifting and costs of agricultural goods increasing daily, this is an optimal time for food banks and those who donate to them to introduce people in need to the benefits of vegan eating. Since food banks keep communities afloat, they should also go the extra mile to support nutritional education whenever and wherever possible.

Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal, Feeding America, AFP News Agency/Twitter