Food Insecurity Doesn’t Take a Holiday

Roasted turkey, green bean casserole, savory stuffing, candied sweet potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce and scores of pies will be set on millions of tables tomorrow for Thanksgiving. People will pile plates high with their favorites and eat far more than they’d ever normally eat for lunch or dinner. Many will express what they’re thankful for this season.

But for other members of our community, Thanksgiving will be much different. Some families will prepare their Thanksgiving meals from the items they received from a food pantry, or may have pre-prepared, donated meals delivered to them. Others will stand in line at a soup kitchen for their Thanksgiving meals.

47 million people in the U.S. are food insecure and don’t have access to enough food to live or thrive, per Feeding America. Among this group are people experiencing homelessness and households who are at-risk of homelessness.

Households that live in poverty struggle to afford basic necessities, including housing and food. They are often forced to make difficult choices about how they will spend their limited income, and sometimes this means going hungry in favor of paying rent, keeping the heat on or buying vital medications. Soaring housing costs mean that families are spending a larger amount of their income to pay rent or mortgages, with less left over for food and other essentials. When individuals and families can’t keep up with costs, they may experience eviction or foreclosure and become homeless.

People experiencing homelessness often have no access to a stove, oven or even a hotplate to cook, and likewise may have no refrigerator in which to store perishable goods. This makes it very difficult to prepare food for themselves and forces them to buy more expensive, ready-made foods, which only increases their financial insecurity. And when these households are preoccupied with trying to find shelter, they may not have the energy or time to also look for nutritious food.

Food insecurity can have serious health implications. People who don’t receive adequate nutrition are more susceptible to poor health, and per Feeding America, more likely to be affected by diet-related chronic illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. The constant struggle to obtain food may also lead to mental health issues, and per the University of Toronto, people in food insecure households are more likely to experience anxiety and depression. According to Feeding America, children living with food insecurity are more likely to have problems in school such as trouble focusing and poor academic performance.

But help is available for those struggling with food and housing insecurity.

Family Promise of Sussex County has been providing housing stabilization support for over 25 years and has a variety of programs to serve both households experiencing homelessness and those who are at-risk. Manna House located in the First Presbyterian Church of Newton serves hot meals every weekday from 11:30 to 12:30, and Harvest House, located in the Sussex Borough Community & Cultural Center, serves a hot lunch to Northern Sussex County residents. The Sparta Community Food Pantry allows people in need to shop for free food and delivers food to individuals that are home-bound.###a>

When you’re carving up that turkey and serving slices of apple pie a la mode, don’t forget that there are people who may not know where their next meal is coming from or even where they’ll be sleeping tomorrow night. No one should have to endure the feeling of gnawing hunger or of wondering when and where they’ll get their next meal. And everyone deserves a home.

Manna House

• 54 High St, Newton, NJ
• https://www.mannahousenewtonnj.org/

Harvest House

• 37 Main Street, Sussex, NJ
• https://www.harvesthousenj.org/

Sparta Food Pantry

• 99 Demarest Road, Sparta, NJ
• https://spartacommunityfoodpantry.org/

For additional housing and food resources, please visit the Making Access Possible (MAP) app:

• https://viewer.mapme.com/makingaccesspossible