NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Local food distribution charities report that they are seeing an increase in the number of persons needing food assistance.
Non-profit food organizations list increased food costs, low wages and dependency on a limited number of charities are among the various reasons why so many are still reaching out for food parcels at an increasing rate despite employment being up since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hands for Hunger (H4H) Executive Director, Kiesha Ellis says that the charity conducts a food insecurity survey every year, to assist in keeping track of the percentage of people in the Bahamas who suffer from malnutrition.
The 2022 survey results showed that the need for food assistance has not decreased compared to last year or the year before.
“Our research shows that 1 in 3 people worry that they may not have enough food to eat and 1 in 5 people have gone an entire day without eating because they have not been able to afford food,” she said.
“These numbers shine a bright light on the reality of the situation in the country. Hands for Hunger remains steadfast in our fight to eliminate hunger.
“The demand for food assistance has not lessened since we have come out of the worst parts of the pandemic. Although many of our clients have been able to find work, they find that their wages are just not enough to cover even their basic needs” Ellis said.
H4H also has a delivery service in which food is packaged and taken from restaurants, hotels, and supermarkets to be distributed at centers. Ellis adds that along with inflation and people struggling to make ends meet, the organizations’ budget is stretched and every bit of donation counts.
“As is the case for many people in the Bahamas, we are really feeling the effects of inflation and constantly rising food prices; when you add to this the recent surge in gas prices, we can fully appreciate the same challenges that the people that we serve are dealing with.
“If not for the kind donations of corporate and private individuals, some donating as little as $5.00 or just a few canned goods, we would not have been able to serve the thousands of people that depend on us.”
Executives at the Bahamas Feeding network echoed Ellis’ statements.
Bahamas Feeding Network Executive Director, James Palacious said: “During the pandemic, we’d given so much more food around, so many more people (charities/organizations) were doing it; and when people were unemployed, quite naturally, they needed more food from various organizations.
“In our case, it has not leveled off. You still see a growing number of people because some people (charities/organizations) who used to do it during COVID don’t do it anymore.
“So numerically, it might be a drop off if you want to look at it from that perspective; but from the other perspective, it is definitely a growing number of people who still need the food” he said.
Access to resources like the non-perishable items that the Bahamas Feeding Network often distributes presents another problem, according to Palacious.
Both Ellis and Palacious say assistance from the public and private partners are a big help in aiding food security and they continue to ask for donations.
