- Experts say the hunger crisis has increased in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- They say a lack of healthy food can exacerbate health issues, including heart disease and high blood pressure, in people of all ages.
- They note that hunger can also affect children’s performance in school as well as cause developmental delays.
“As soon as I get the box, I start thinking: I can put the mixed vegetables with the ground meat. I can make soup and beef stew, rice and beans and pasta. I have stuff for salads. They’re even giving me eggs I can make for breakfast.”
That’s the thought process Mary Castillo goes through twice a month when she receives food boxes for her family.
The Texas grandmother is raising six of her teenage grandchildren. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of those children are remote learning from home.
That means they don’t get the breakfast and lunch they would normally get at school. So providing those meals takes a bigger bite out of the family’s food budget.
Castillo is one of hundreds of families who line up at a San Antonio food bank two Saturdays a month.
“Right now, the food bank helps me fill in the gaps and stretch out my food so it lasts. I’m just grateful and very blessed,” she told Healthline.
Source: healthline