Guest column, Kenney: COVID-19 exposes flawed food security system

DeKalb County has never seen such a sudden and dramatic increase in the need for food.

Since Gov. JB Pritzker’s stay-at-home order went into effect March 21, DeKalb County Community Gardens’ Grow Mobile has held 10 pop-up mobile drive-thru pantries in 21 days.

The locations included Sandwich, Malta, DeKalb, Kingston and
Sycamore.

More than 20,000 pounds of food has been distributed to 762 households and 2,224 individuals.

This includes 336 individuals age 60 or older. DCCG, in partnership with Elder Care Services and Voluntary
Action Center, has also made more
than 50 home deliveries to elderly, those struggling with a mental illness, disabilities or have a medical condition.

DCCG delivered to the door of a family under quarantine because one member had been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

The newly unemployed in Illinois has surpassed 500,000 in just three weeks.

Before the pandemic hit, the Federal Reserve found four in 10 Americans did not have the savings or other resources to cover an unexpected $400 expense.

Now, they face weeks or months without a paycheck. 70% of those coming to pick up food from the mobile pantries are individuals who have never used a food pantry before this pandemic shut down.

This sudden surge in the need for food comes as the Feeding America network of 200 food banks across the country are finding it difficult to get food.

All the food pantries in DeKalb County depend on the Northern Illinois Food Bank centered in Geneva.

Feeding America and food banks have negotiated contracts to receive donations from all major chains, food whose shelf life has nearly expired or produce that is on the verge of going bad.

The initial panic buying by nervous shoppers emptied many store shelves, and the domino effect is now making it difficult for food banks and pantries to stock their shelves.

At the same time, crops are rotting in Florida fields, milk is being dumped and greens are being plowed under in California, crops grown for now shuttered restaurants, hotels and theme parks.

Growers can’t switch to selling to grocery chains because the major grocers are under contract to bring in their produce from outside the United States.

Another example of dependence upon food that travels an average 1,500 miles before it reaches your table.

The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted how those who struggle with food security are dependent at the bottom of a fragile food chain.

Those who survive on what’s leftover have even less to choose from when there is little left behind.

The current crisis causes us to question if it is in our best interest that three corporations control 59% of the seed market, or that four major grocery chains control 50% of the U.S. food sales.

Is it a good idea for the United States to be dependent on foreign suppliers for over 20% of its food?

When my parents lived through the depression or during post-World War II days, they were not dependent on chicken coming from China or lettuce from California.

They went out the back door to their gardens or climbed over the fence to pick from the orchard.

We have some of the best soil in the world in DeKalb County and usually sufficient rainfall.

Hopefully we will learn from the exposed vulnerabilities of our present food system and turn our attention to local growers and resources.

We see the shortcomings of our present food system in this pandemic.

Let’s use what we learn to create a resilient local food security system before the next crisis.

• Dan Kenney is the founder and executive director of the DeKalb County Community Gardens