98 Time March 15/March 22, 2021
getting back and forth to work,” she says.
That’s not an isolated problem, says
Dr. Megan Sandel, who works with
malnourished children and extremely
low-income families as a co-director of
the Grow Clinic at Boston Medical Cen-
ter. Sandel says that by setting income
ceilings low, not factoring in a recipient’s
obligatory expenses like transportation,
and reducing benefits every time some-
body gets a modest pay bump, SNAP
and other welfare programs often pun-
ish beneficiaries for building assets. If
Nelson gets a raise that helps her buy a
car, she may lose SNAP, forcing her to
choose between gas and food.
These and other policy failures “play
out on the bodies of babies,” Sandel says.
Kids whose caregivers lose SNAP benefits
are at greater risk of poor health, stud-
ies show. At the Grow Clinic, Sandel sees
hundreds of malnourished children per
year, including 2-year-olds who still fit
into clothes meant for 1-year-olds and
toddlers whose hair doesn’t grow, because
of a combination of not getting enough
nutrient- dense food and not getting
enough food, period. Since March 2020,
her clinic’s caseload has jumped 40%.
President Joe Biden is aware of the problem. Within his first
week in office, he proposed the American Rescue Plan, which
called on Congress to extend SNAP increases through the fall,
and signed an Executive Order that directs the USDA to re-
jigger its formula to better reflect the costs of healthy foods.
But even if SNAP allotments increase, the number of hun-
gry people is expected to remain high long after the virus is
under control. “People get into a hole, and it takes a long time
to get out,” says Elaine Waxman, a senior fellow at the Urban
Institute. After the Great Recession, it took 10 years for food-
security rates in America to near prerecession levels.
Many of the women serving their communities say they’re
not holding their breath for a government solution. “We’ve
been taking care of ourselves for a long time,” says Fields of the
Black Feminist Project. “As much as the white folks think that
food stamps and safety-net programs are what got us through,
it hasn’t been. It’s been each other and the alternative models
and systems of care that we’ve created.”
Back in Albany, Anderson grapples with the understanding
that she—armed only with a 2015 black Ram van she named
Marigold, some help from generous neighbors and unflagging
resolve—can’t feed everyone on her own. On that February day,
Anderson has already jammed Marigold with cases of kombu-
cha, spinach and apples and is hoping to squeeze in more pro-
duce from a donor who runs a nearby farm. For now, she takes
solace in helping to feed those she can. A few days later, she re-
ports that she’s finalizing details with Troy Bike Rescue, which
has agreed to give her a power outlet. That’s hundreds more
people who don’t have to skip a meal. □●
Anderson
commissions local
artists to decorate
her fridges. This
one on Lark Street
was painted
by a local
kombucha vendorSPECIAL REPORT
WOMEN and the PANDEMIC