Staying Home Means Paying for More Meals

With schools, daycares, churches, and community centers shuttered, many of our respondents have lost not only social spaces, but also sources of food.

Alicia was given free lunch every day at work and had an employee discount for meals at her job. Her husband got 50% off dinner at the restaurant he cooked at, her daughter received free lunch at her BPS school, and her son was fed at daycare. Now, despite frequent use of meal sites across the city, their food budget has increased. Without work, summer camp, or daycare, this budget strain is likely to continue in the coming months. 

One senior, Nicole, explained that she previously engaged in a steady stream of activities, such as volunteering at after-school programs, attending meetings and rehearsals at her church, and socializing with friends at the senior center. Each of these activities came with a free meal or stipend. With those activities shut down, she has to provide these meals herself and has trouble making ends meet. Because she is a senior and can’t get out, she now has to rely more on deliveries from food pantries and other community organizations. Since delivery times can be inconsistent, she is more frequently skipping meals than before.

April, a working single mother, told us that a lack of access to support networks has affected her ability to feed herself and her family. Previously, April could rely on her mother to provide a balanced and healthy dinner after her son would get breakfast and lunch from his school. Now, April does not want to bring her son to his grandmother for fear of getting her infected. April is struggling to replace both the quantity and quality of her son’s meals. April is relying on less healthy food to feed her son and splitting portions to make her food last longer. Even still, April has fallen behind her rent to get enough food to feed her family. 

In their own words:

“Right now, I’m in survival mode, okay. The things that I used to do and the place that I used to be able to go to be able to make ends meet and to get, you know, the extra dollar that’s not happening no more…that's not happening no more.”

Names and some details changed to preserve confidentiality.