The virus flare-up known as COVID-19 started in December 2019 at Wuhan, China. From that point forward, I have read from news outlets that the virus has spread all through worldwide, causing a boundless closure of the apparent multitude of businesses. To encourage and contain the number of individuals tainted with the illness, I have learned to go under an improved network isolate. Because of the inconvenience of isolation, I have been affected in many ways by the food budget has increased since food production is among the business that is intensely influenced since it is reliant on labor and difficult work.
I have also learned that the food business is confronting numerous issues in the United States of America simultaneously. One of the serious issues I have come across that upset the economy is accumulating food items. The dread emerging from the pandemic has made individuals resort to “alarm purchasing,” causing shifts unto their purchasing behaviors, which prompts the purging of markets’ racks. Because of the presenting issue, nearby government units have turned into using “cost gouging” to forestall any further strain unto the flexible chain.
From my research, like the United States, the United Kingdom-the nation that utilizes most of its all-out land territory for horticultural practices-produces the vast majority of the food that it consumes. My readings also show that country is vigorously reliant on the nation’s horticulture part. This is additionally where their concern roots. Due to the pandemic, fewer individuals take up farming positions because of the disease’s dread since the greater part of the work is close contact with different workers. Because of this, my relatives in the United Kingdom have not suffered because of the pandemic. Unlike here in the United States, where we have been hit by a shortage of food, the United Kingdom people have been recruited in food production to keep the food shortage at bay.
From my observations, many households bought food that did not last, or they did not just have enough money to last them during the pandemic. As a result, most of the children in these households were not having enough food or could not afford to buy enough food. In my neighborhood, more than two out of three households were threatened with food security. More households with children under the age of 12 also experienced food insecurity. Their mothers also stated that children have not been eating enough, as they could not afford the food. Other mothers told me that their children are malnourished since the pandemic started. This trend, when compared to the last year’s annual demand for food, there is increased demand and reduced supply during this time.
Not surprisingly, even neighborhood families with children over the age of 18 had cases of food insecurity. For most of these families they argue that the food they bought did not last the expected period. I have observed people benefiting from Supplemental Nutrition Program. The benefit is, however, not enough for all families. The program should increase the eligibility criteria to include more families. In addition, the families that are already benefiting from the program should receive the maximum benefits from it. I have also observed from publicly available figures that most families do not receive SNAP benefits. Few families have also benefitted from Extend Pandemic EBT, where groceries offer school meals as a grocery voucher. This can be as little as $100 a month. Families can also be supported further using an additional SNAP multiplier through enlisting more people to qualify for Pandemic-EBT.
Another dimension of the food insecurity I have personally observed is the loss of income that has reduced the purchasing power for the affected households. I have noticed that families with children have lost more jobs than families with none. The evident loss of employment is the availability of many vacant buildings previously occupied by families with children. Now they have either relocated to cheaper areas or have gone back to their rural areas. All families of different backgrounds, be it Hispanic, native, or black American households in the neighborhood, were affected by the pandemic. The government policies that have helped these families include Enhanced Unemployment Insurance, which had to be expanded to include many other families that were not previously covered. They benefitted from $600 UI benefits, and this expired in July 2020. Another benefit that I came across was One Time Direct Payment to Individuals; the amount was between $2000 to $2400 for a married couple. The independent individuals like myself received half as much.
Therefore, many organizations need to work together with the legislature to serve the individuals all the more successfully. They must help with improving the well-being of American citizens. To reduce the number of people that have been affected by the pandemic, some policies must be implemented to ensure enough supply of food to the population. One of the methods that can be used in increasing food supply is increasing the volume of food supplies to the people and also ensure that as many people as possible benefit from such programs.