Nazario Valentin, 72, is one of hundreds of people who have been waiting in line since the early hours of the morning at Lincoln Heights Recreation Park to get a food pantry.
Nazario is one of 1.4 million people experiencing food insecurity in Los Angeles County, according to a recent USC Dornsife study.
After waiting for two hours, Nazario was able to arrive at the tent where volunteers from World Harvest and the offices of Councilman Kevin de León were handing out free food packages, not only to combat hunger, but also to promote nutrition.
“During the week I only eat beans and eggs,” said Nazario, who survives on just $1,100 a month from his retirement insurance.
“My pension is not enough to survive,” she added. “I live with my son and I don’t pay rent.”
However, the man born in Puebla, Mexico, despite the help he receives from his son, must contribute money to pay for electricity, gas and water.
Nazario and those who stood in line on a recent Thursday were given a box with fruits and vegetables, as well as bags of beans, tortillas and eggs, among other basic items.
District 14 Help
Before, during, and after the Covid-19 pandemic, food insecurity already existed among families and seniors living in the Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, Ramona Gardens, and Rose Hills neighborhoods.
“Councilmember De Leon is using his discretionary funds to pay for food boxes for his constituents in District 14,” said Pete Brown, a spokesman for the council member.
To date, De León has provided food to more than 65,000 families since taking office, when the pandemic brought relief to many people in need.
“Even after the pandemic ended, the need continued,” Brown said.
At the exit of Lincoln Park, pushing a wheeled cart, Mrs. Gloria Orozco, originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, helped load the groceries of her friend, Cristina González, from Michoacán.
“I am a housewife and I have two children to feed,” said Mrs. Orozco. “My husband works as a cook, but the money is not enough.”
For her part, Mrs. González told La Opinión that, due to the high cost of food, she and her family have forgotten about going out to a restaurant.
“The little money we have we use to buy food and clothes for our children,” she said. “I don’t buy new clothes and I just wash the ones I have so they are clean.”
Food insecurity crisis
In July, experts from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences examined food and nutrition insecurity in Los Angeles County and concluded that 1.4 million people—mostly adults—are affected by the dual challenge.
In fact, they say that young Hispanic and Asian adults are at greatest risk, potentially compromising their health.
“To address the leading causes of chronic disease like diabetes and mental health issues, we need to track both nutrition insecurity and food insecurity in Los Angeles County,” said Kayla de la Haye, founding director of the Institute for Food System Equity (IFSE) at the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research.
“Addressing food insecurity is critical to ensuring people have enough to eat, but we also need to understand who faces barriers to eating a healthy diet.”
Food insecurity relates to access to sufficient food, while nutritional insecurity focuses on access to healthy foods that meet personal preferences. Limited food availability is linked to significant physical and mental health problems.
Order food everywhere
Blanca Herrera, 27, born in Sonsonate, El Salvador, attended the free food distribution at Lincoln Heights Park with her daughter, Leslie Vazquez, two years old.
She revealed that every week she goes to different churches, non-profit organizations and places that give away food.
“I don’t work, so I go around asking for food,” said Mrs. Herrera, also the mother of a 10-year-old boy. “What they give me, I share with my parents, and with that I also help my husband, because at least we save $100 dollars a week on food expenses.”
Without money even for chewing gum
Carlos Guamán, a financial expert at the corporation “El Triunfo”, based in the city of Santa Ana, analyzed that the economic situation of millions of people is critical.
“The situation is very difficult and that is why there are many food banks, churches and non-profit organizations that are trying to support people because inflation is high, financial insecurity and the lack of capital has reached the point where people do not even have enough to eat,” said Guamán.
According to the latest report from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation is at 2.5%, but, according to Guamán, “that does not mean that inflation is going down, but rather that it has stopped growing.”
“Food prices have not dropped to their pre-pandemic levels, and they are not going to drop either,” he warned.
“The problem is that inflation has stopped growing at the speed it was, but people’s salaries have not grown as much as they should have, and that is why no one can afford to pay for food with the little money they have.”
He mentioned that heads of households cannot tighten their belts any further, “because they don’t even have belts anymore.”
“The situation is very difficult because of the rent they are charging you, the electricity, water, gas and all the public services… you can no longer afford to save up for food and paying for gasoline means you have no paycheck. Your salary is no longer enough to cover even chewing gum.”
Given this prospect, Guamán predicted that many people will abandon California, and those who come from other states and can afford the lifestyle of the “Golden State” will find everything more expensive.
This gloomy forecast does not sit well with Nazario Valentín.
“You can’t live in peace anymore,” he said. “Everything is so expensive!”