The food delivery process starts with a message. Robert Fears, a Rockville Help Food Bank volunteer, reads the information sent by the officer of the day and the bank learns about their client. What is their story? Do they live within the service area of the food bank? What do they need? Fears calls the client back, verifying their name, contact, and record information.
At the food bank, clients can request food assistance up to three times in six months. Fears consults the client’s dietary requirements. Mondays: no pork or salt. Tuesdays: two adults and four children. Wednesdays: obtain infant formula.
Entering the pantry, Fears collects the cans of corn, string beans, and fruit cocktail before packing the food into their personal vehicle. Some days, Fears makes several deliveries, marking each bag with the first letter of the client’s name. After driving to the destination, Fears calls the client to let them know that food is here, giving them a bag of groceries when they arrive.
Food delivery drivers like Fears serve 49 million people nationwide facing hunger. Research shows how inequities in job opportunities, education, and housing contribute to households vulnerable to food insecurity. Serving at charities, non-profits, and food banks, volunteers dedicate their time to every step of the food delivery process, ensuring they reach families with smiles and hands full of grocery bags.
Not only does food delivery alleviate global hunger, but a study on the Meals on Wheels Program shows how clients benefited from the social interactions in receiving meals. Similarly, drivers found personal validation and purpose through creating life-changing impact and conversations with clients.
Many families receiving food delivery are eligible for food assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program which gives out food stamps. In the K-12 school system, students also receive free or reduced-price meals. However, these programs are insufficient to ensure families receive an adequate amount of nutritious meals, causing them to look to food banks as a supplemental resource.
After food stamps in Maryland were cut in March 2023, Fears remembers delivering food to a client who lived on $75 groceries a month. More than 360,000 households in the state recall a similar experience.
According to the Center for American Progress, Javona Brownlee visits a food bank despite receiving SNAP benefits.
“I receive food stamps [SNAP benefits], but sometimes I still have to go to the food bank … The food stamps are not enough to feed my family, especially with them being out of school [during the summer] and having to feed them three plus meals a day. I’m going to the food bank at least once a month,” Brownlee said.
Funding cuts to food assistance exacerbate the food insecurity crisis. In 2024, the Farm Bill proposal introduced by the House Agriculture Committee contained a major consequence: households could lose up to $30 billion in food assistance. Despite this drawback, the bill provides $6 billion towards conservation programs that cultivate sustainable land for farmers and ranchers. Whether the programs work to improve soil, air, and water quality or supply loans, the Farm Bill becomes a testament to the complexities of balancing a federal budget that must address the interests and urgencies of several communities.
Beyond the work of food banks, food delivery shapes the current landscape of eating trends. Prioritizing convenience and comfort, popular online services like Uber Eats and Doordash encountered a surge in demand during and after the pandemic. Research also finds that among 10,050 American adults, fruit consumption decreased significantly, while food consumption with high fat or sugar levels increased significantly since the pandemic.
Incorporating nutritious diets and practices serves as a challenge for urban and rural populations. Food insecurity prevents households from achieving physical wellness in two ways: families may resort to skipping meals or consuming foods that contribute to the development of chronic disease. According to Strong Towns, co-founder of Zester Media Corie Brown reflects on the depopulation of rural Kansas, directly creating food deserts: “There are no people here. Not enough to justify a delivery truck.”
On a broader scale, the effects of climate change threaten our food sources worldwide. Droughts in Syria; floods across Libya and Southern Sudan; corn, rice, and cattle lost to heatwaves. Although the natural disasters worsened by global warming seem countries away, the crops from distant farmlands and plantations end up at local Wegmans or Trader Joe’s. According to NPR, a study has shown that global interdependence on foreign crops has increased from 63 percent to 69 percent.
The future of food security relies on individuals to curate sustainable eating habitats. According to the New York Times, Mennos Mas founder Annya Santana explains, “You have to keep pushing the message that wellness is about making adjustments to your life, not losing who you are and what you love.” In every meal we buy or cook, another family waits for the next time they’ll eat fresh vegetables. A family is calling a food bank.
“We’re much more than just our physical selves. Just smiling at somebody when you’re passing them on the street, just acknowledging them, can go down a long road,” Fears says.
Ultimately, delivering food comes with more than meeting people’s basic needs.
“Most people recognize that something more is needed to feel thriving rather than just surviving,” says Fears. “The whole idea of being of service to your fellow human beings is one of the things that can bridge that separation—that can cross that gap.”
You can learn how to deliver your love to others. Bring daifuku to share with classmates. Pack mantou for your little sister. Host a canned food drive at school. In times of struggle, you can nourish hope.
