‘We Will Handle It.’ An Army of Women Is Taking on the Hunger Crisis in Local Communities

Just before 3 p.m. on a warm Wednesday in February, 30-year-old Jammella Anderson—­donning heart-shaped glasses, a Black Lives Matter tee and 2-in. platform boots—strolls up to a small bicycle-­repair shop just north of Albany, N.Y. She’s here to persuade Troy Bike Rescue to let her use an electrical outlet so she can plug in a new refrigerator just outside the shop’s front door. “It’s just two prongs,” she explains to one of the employees. “All I need is an outlet.” Anderson, who works as a part-time doula and yoga instructor, is here on behalf of the one-woman organization she launched in August, Free Food Fridge Albany—an ad hoc network of half a dozen publicly accessible refrigerators that local farmers, market operators, restaurant owners and individual shoppers stock with free food multiple times each day to serve hungry people in the community. If Troy Bike Rescue’s owner agrees to give Anderson access to his electrical supply, Free Food Fridge Albany will be up to seven fridges ­citywide—a small but crucial service that helps thousands of local low-­income families get enough to eat each month. Photograph by Naima Green for TIME Even in flush times millions of Americans, including 11 million children, lack access to nutritious, affordable food. But in the past year the problem has become especially acute. When COVID-19 crippled the blue collar job market in March, the number of A...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 feature food insecurity Magazine Women in Crisis Source Type: news