008: Facing the Reality of Food Insecurity
In this episode of The Social Leader, Fr. Justin Mathews talks with Valerie Nicholson-Watson, President & CEO of Harvesters - The Community Food Network, about food insecurity, leadership accountability in times of need, and the role of innovation and inspiration when facing growing community need.
EPISODE 8 — TRANSCRIPT
Father Justin Mathews: On April 21st, 2020, the United Nations projected that because of COVID-19 the number of people that are facing food insecurity, severe food shortage worldwide, could actually double to more than 265 million people. That same week in the United States, the five week total of jobless claims rose to a staggering 26 million, pushing millions more people into food insecurity. Hi, I'm Justin Mathews. I am your host for The Social Leader, episode number eight. Today my guest is Valerie Nicholson Watson, who is the CEO of Harvesters. Welcome to this episode. We're going to go deep on food insecurity, on innovation, on creativity, and on leadership. Stay tuned.
Fr. Justin: My guest today is Valerie Nicholson Watson. She is the CEO of Harvesters. Valerie joined Harvesters in 2013 and has had various roles including serving now as the leader of the entire organization for the region. But prior to joining Harvesters, Valerie was a leader and multiple nonprofits, served on multiple boards, most notably was the President and CEO of the Niles Home for Children. Valerie also currently serves as a Senior Board member for Nonprofit Connect here in Kansas City. I am very pleased today to introduce to you Valerie Nicholson Watson. Hello Valerie and welcome to The Social Leader podcast.
Valerie Nicholson Watson: Hello, Father Justin. Thank you so much for having me.
Fr. Justin: It is an honor to have you here. I want to just jump in and ask you, did I miss anything in your bio? Anything that you hoped that I would bring out that would let folks know a little bit more about you, Valerie?
Valerie: Well, I've been in the nonprofit arena since 1999 and I think that was probably one of the most significant career moves that I ever made. Because there is nothing better, for someone who has to work for a living, there's nothing better than being able to use your gifts and talents to help others. And that's what a nonprofit allows you to do. And I'm just so grateful for it.
Fr. Justin: Well, we're grateful that you chose to dedicate your time, your talent, your energy, to being a social leader. We're going to get today into everything that we can in the time that we've got about food insecurity, particularly here in the Kansas City area and in the region, but generally across the United States. But we also want to learn from you, since you've been leading nonprofits and boards for so long, about how we can learn to lead with greater social impact. And we're going to get to that. But first and foremost, Val, I've got to jump in and just ask you, can you help our listeners understand what is causing food insecurity? We live in a first world nation where it seems like there's food everywhere and plenty for people but can you help us understand, maybe even tell us a story about why food insecurity exists and why is it such a problem in our first world context?
Valerie: There's so much misinformation, I think, about food insecurity, and why people are food insecure. So even before this COVID crisis, Harvesters was serving over 360,000 people throughout our service area. And these are people for the most part, when you look at their households, they have at least one member in that household who is working. But at the end of the day, you also have some households where you have multiple people working, sometimes multiple jobs, but if your income does not provide enough resources for you to live a modest, stable life, something has to give. And when you make those choices between: do I pay my rent or mortgage? Do I pay my utilities? Do I buy medicine? Do I purchase food? Food often gets pushed to the side and people go hungry and they don't necessarily know where their next meal will come from. That means they’re food insecure. So sometimes we villainize the poor, and we villainize those people who sometimes need some assistance, but these are people just like the rest of us. Either you have the resources or you don't, they happen not to.
Fr. Justin: I think when when you talk about hunger in the United States, I'll be honest, a lot of people that I've talked to about poverty, even here in Kansas City, one of the first things that comes to people's mind is people are lazy, they're not working, they don't want to work, welfare, etc. Help us to dispel those notions because you just talked about the socio economic realities of 10s of thousands of people in our region, if not more. Tell me a story that helps me understand and helps our listeners understand a little bit better what you're talking about when it comes to food, insecure families and why food insecurity exists.
Valerie: I'll share a story that was shared with us from someone who was able to participate in one of our mobile distributions and this one shared that her husband had not lost his job, but his hours of employment had been cut back drastically.
Fr. Justin: Very common right now, very common.
Valerie: And at the same time she needed eye surgery and received that eye surgery. So that created some medical bills that they were not anticipating. So when you combine the fact that the income had been reduced significantly, with the fact that now they have an unexpected medical bill, you see the strain that that puts on an already strained budget. I'm just thankful, very, very thankful for the safety net here in our metropolitan area, and particularly the 760 organizations that make up Harvesters, the Community Food Network. Many of these organizations provide services in addition to food. I'm just happy that this network is here to provide assistance for people in need.
Fr. Justin: Yeah, Reconciliation Services is privileged to be a part of the Harvesters Network. In fact, I was going through our minutes and some old notes and it looks like actually we were involved in one way or another with Harvesters even back into the 1990s. And certainly now with Thelma’s Kitchen, we would not be serving the hundreds and hundreds of people a day that we serve now if it weren't for Harvesters. Like I said, we're honored to be a part of your network here in the Kansas City region. I want to talk a little bit about that social safety net that you mentioned, though, because there was this act that just was passed on March 18. I'm not sure that it got enough attention but the Families First Coronavirus Response Act allowed the USDA and states to have a little bit more funding and flexibility as it implemented SNAP, which if you don't know what SNAP is, that's the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. And it's one of those key programs that helps families to afford food when they’re food insecure or those families like you're talking about who find themselves unexpectedly without the ability to buy food. In this act, Valerie, if I understand, there were kind of four key provisions. Number one, that all eligible households can apply for the SNAP maximum monthly benefit. Secondly, those in-person appointments that people had to have to recertify and to enroll particularly into WIC, which is Women, Infant, and Children's program, that's been waived. And then thirdly, that work and work training requirements, this is a controversial one, but those work requirements for SNAP have been temporarily suspended. And then lastly, of course, this one directly impacts you. This act, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act actually increased funding to local food banks and to students who are on reduced meals. Now, having gone through all of that, and by way of doing that, I'm hoping to educate our audience just a little bit about just some of the things that are happening at the federal level, how did you see that act impact you at Harvesters? Was there increased funding? Was there some change in operations? Tell me more about what the local impact of that has been.
Valerie: So the federal government has really enacted several different acts all with the purpose of responding to COVID-19. One of the most important things that they've done as it relates to food banks and hunger relief, is the treatment of TEFAP, the commodities that food banks across the country distribute in many, many states.
Fr. Justin: Can you break down that acronym for me? What does that stand for?
Valerie: Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program.
Fr. Justin: Just want to make sure that everyone knows what that is. Not everybody knows the jargon, so carry on.
Valerie: So I'll take one step back and say, for every meal that Harvesters and our network can provide, the federal government can provide nine. So they are an important partner in this fight against hunger. And so when we look at programs such as TEFAP, that provides commodity foods to people across this country, there are some very stringent guidelines to who can receive the food based on income eligibility and which agencies can actually distribute the food based on their own certification. So loosening those guidelines has been tremendous for us because it really allowed us to provide food on our mobiles, and this is first quality food. Ten later on, they initiated the disaster household distribution program, and that allows us to provide food to people without certifying their income. They simply have to make an attestation that they don't meet or they don't exceed the income guidelines. So that opened up hundreds of thousands of pounds of food to augment the food that we were able to distribute. Very important at this point in time when we see our shelf stable food donations, just really plummeting.
So when we talk about SNAP as well, Harvesters does outreach for SNAP in Kansas and Missouri. We actually have a hotline that people can call. They can get more information about SNAP to preliminarily see if they would be eligible. And I will say that during this pandemic calls to our hotline have increased significantly. Many of the people who are calling do not meet the guidelines so they have opted, of course, not to submit applications. But when we talk about SNAP and through Families First trying to raise the minimum amount of assistance that people receive with it, and then the pandemic SNAP trying to actually increase the ceiling for what people are eligible for, it makes so much difference. And it makes the difference in the lives of the families who receive SNAP, they are able to actually go to the grocery store and shop for the specific foods that they need. But we often overlook the economic impact that SNAP has on the community, because those dollars are being spent at the grocery stores. So it actually helps or contributes to the strength of our economy. If you lower SNAP, then that's less money in this economy. So grocers are able to hire people and people are able to have jobs in the food industry, because those snap dollars are there.
Fr. Justin: Yeah, you know, when you talk about families and the need and the SNAP dollars, I want to focus in on one particular survey. There was a survey recently of mothers and young children and it said that 17.4% of mothers with children ages 12 and under reported at the start of the pandemic, not even since it's happened, that there were children in their household who weren't eating enough because they just couldn't afford food. I mean, so obviously, Va,l with what you're saying food insecurity has, I'm sure, deteriorated even more in households with children. Are you able to confirm that? Are we seeing the same thing here in the Kansas City region as well?
Valerie: We clearly are. Our member agencies are reporting an increase in the number of people that they are serving. And what they're sharing with us is that many of the people they are seeing have never had to access emergency food assistance. So these are people who typically had enough revenue so that they didn't need assistance, but likely have lost their job or seeing their employment hours reduced as a result of this health crises. And so now they're in a position where they're making tough choices. And again, I'm just grateful that one of the tough choices they may not have to make is “do I skip the meals so that I can feed my children?”
Fr. Justin: One of the things that I think we've all been impacted by is when you go to the grocery store, even if you're not like one of those families that can't afford the meal, you go to the grocery store and it's not just toilet paper that you can't find. There's all sorts of things. I just recently was at the grocery store with my family, with my wife. And noticed that the whole meat counter was virtually empty. And of course, that goes back to food insecurity as well as to food safety issues rather in the meat production plants that we've been hearing about in the news. But in the work that you're doing, you rely on a huge national supply chain, if I'm not mistaken? Have you seen farmers or that supply chain undermined because of the COVID-19 situation? From what I've read, Valerie, there are farmers of all sizes across the United States that are even having to dump their crops or destroy their harvest because there aren't enough people to buy it. Is there a disruption in the food chain that you're experiencing? And even more than that why are farmers dumping crops or destroying crops when they could be giving it to organizations like yours? Illuminate that food chain access issue for us a little bit.
Valerie: So there is absolutely a disruption in the food chain. I know this in terms of how it is impacting this organization and our sister food banks across the country. One of the first changes that we noticed was that rush for retail. Everybody was buying, buying, buying, and that really put a strain on our food retailers and we saw that some products were being sold faster than they could be manufactured. And what we saw through Feeding America during this time is that the portals that we are able to purchase food through, we saw that many of our choices were disappearing. I think it went from something like 920 odd choices down to 700. Because those products that were not in high demand were being put to the side. And those that were in high demand were more readily available. But right now what we're seeing is that the disruption has, in particular, created issues even for us as our donated food has disappeared, particularly shelf stable food, I should say. And so we're being forced to purchase food. And when we purchase food, you first have to find it, and that's not always as easy as someone might think it is. Then we are getting delivery dates that are four to eight weeks out from time of purchase. And in some instances, and this was more so early on in the crisis, you'd place an order. And then the next thing you know, they cancel that order saying they can't get the food. In terms of meat, and I'm not an expert, I just know what I read, but in terms of meat, particularly with so many of the packing or processing plants being shut down, then you have that backlog from the farmers. And if they don't have somewhere to process that meat, then what do they do with it? And they have their supply chain in terms of the livestock that's coming in. And so even when you hear about farmers perhaps having to euthanize chickens or pigs or something, they can't give it to us if we can't get it processed.
Fr. Justin: There's a very complex food distribution system in what you're talking about. But when I look at the work that you're doing at Harvesters, one of the news reports that I read said that on March 23, Harvesters saw its single largest daily order ever in its 40 year history. And then I saw on the news just a couple days ago that Harvesters this week distributed with its volunteers, the largest single distribution you've ever done, over 100,000 pounds of food, nearly 8,000 people or 1,600 households. You're moving a ton of food into the market and yet it doesn't feel like we make a dent. I'd love to have you help us to understand, what are we going to do about the systemic issues? Not just the farmers who don't have anywhere to take things because of COVID, but it feels like we give out food all of the time. There's free meals. There's great programs like Harvesters. But what are we going to do to be able to get to the place where people have enough food and are able to access that? What innovations or what changes do we need to bring about? And has anything new come about in your leadership as a result of the COVID situation, something you've learned?
Valerie: Well, Harvesters mission is to feed hungry people today, and to work to end hunger tomorrow. And so one of the things that we rely on is just the data that we get back from our agencies and the people that they serve. We know that the people who are food insecure on a regular basis, they typically have some of those underlying medical issues that sometimes put their ability to work in jeopardy. And you think about things like hypertension, diabetes, high blood pressure, those kinds of things that to maintain good health, people really need a good diet. And so one of the things that we've started to do is to work with healthcare providers to help them help their patients integrate good nutrition into their health maintenance.
Fr. Justin: Yeah, I love that saying that food is medicine. And in fact, at Thelma's Kitchen here, supported by Harvesters, we've actually been experimenting on a small level with Truman Medical. What would it look like if we actually had doctors prescribing healthy food? Have you guys ever worked with any medical institutions to try to get in deep on the prescription side rather than on the reactive side?
Valerie: So that is absolutely what we are doing and we have partnerships across our service area right now. We're going into our fourth year and the response from healthcare providers has been tremendous. It's interesting, though, that there are so many different responses. They are as simple as sharing a card with a patient that shows them how to access our pantry finder, to actually the medical providers purchasing food that we then package in prescriptive boxes so that they have it available for their patients. In even different organizations, sponsoring kids cafes and that sort of thing, so that when children come in for their pediatric health checks, not only can the patient eat but if there are siblings, the siblings can eat as well. But I talked a little bit about Harvesters, the community network, and the organizations that make up the network. Harvesters is a food bank and we have very pointedly stayed in that lane. We provide the food and we provide food and nutrition education in a lot of different ways. But there are member agencies in this network who do things such as job training and educational assistance, housing and utility assistance, those other kinds of support that people need to help them stabilize their lives. Social justice is something that this country has been seeking for a very long time as is economic justice. I don't know that I have the answers. But I think we all know what it takes, what a family has to have in order again. I'm not asking for the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, just a stable, modest lifestyle.
Fr. Justin: What you're talking about is that basic understanding of the social determinants of health, that if we want to address hunger, we actually have to address healthcare, we have to address education, we have to address the neighborhood and the built environment. We have to address the ability to eat and education. And, Valerie, one of the things I was thinking about this morning and preparing to talk to you was the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic, it's actually hit all five of those. You've got the educational system completely shut down and now stripped down into this homeschool methodology. You've got neighborhoods that already had environmental issues or access to healthy food issues. Now those social safety nets that keep neighborhoods afloat and the ability to get together and to build those interactions that break down isolation, those things have been disrupted. You could go down that list and food access and food insecurity is really just one of them. But what you're saying is that the number of food insecure people will continue to grow, it sounds like until we actually address the issue holistically. And so what would be the role for a food bank? If you're staying in your lane, like you said, what is your role if it's catalytic or if it's from a policy perspective, to try to address those other domains of the social determinants of health?
Valerie: One of the things that we do and and will continue to do is to partner with those organizations that are providing those types of services that help people regain or gain their economic independence so to speak. And so that's one of the things that we can do. Our partnerships with healthcare providers, there's clearly something else we can do. Because when you don't have your health, it's very difficult for you to maintain a job, for you to really prosper and grow into a job, or even to do well in school. So food plays a vital role. We can't downplay that. Let me backup just a little bit. People typically know what they need and I think we are often ready to prescribe what we think they need. And so one of the things that we can do is to just listen to them and ask them what they need in terms of what will it take for you to create stability in your life. So that's one of the things that we can do. But when we think about food, you feed a person today, but that's one meal. They need three meals a day, every day. So that is why we often find ourselves saying, well, you know, we provide so much food, but it seems like a never ending effort, and to some degree, it is a never ending effort, as long as humans have to eat. The gap in the number of meals that people miss, even before COVID our national network was providing food to over 37 million people.
Fr. Justin: And when you hear numbers like that, it's difficult to sort of quantify what that means. I mean, just the other day, Valerie, I was here at Reconciliation Services and one of our case managers told me a story about a mother and a father, who had two or three kids, I can't remember which, but they were trying to feed their kids three times a day, seven days a week. But in order to do that they actually were skipping and eating one meal every other day. And so when you think about those staggering multi million person numbers that you're throwing out, it's hard to sort of personalize those and get them drilled down at the personal level with individual families. I'm thinking about the number of leaders who are listening to this podcast either now while we're broadcasting or later, and who want to do something. So first of all, how can people engage with Harvesters in the region? What can they do to help solve the food insecurity problem?
Valerie: Right now, I think for something like food, you certainly have to address the immediate needs of people, because if they don't have food, then it's very difficult to think beyond just meeting that very basic need. So in normal times, I would say give voice. We talked a lot about the federal nutrition programs. We need to make sure that those programs are robust enough to assist people in need and that we don't make changes that cause harm to the people who rely on them. We ask our community to give time, particularly through either volunteering here at Harvesters or volunteering at one of the hundreds of organizations and even other nonprofits in this city. We ask them to give food because that's the core of our business. And we ask them to give money because we have to keep the lights on and get the food to where it's needed most. Right now our volunteer capacity is diminished just because we are following mandates in terms of the size of gatherings, but this won't last always.
Fr Justin: Is that going to change as the city reopens with this 10/10/10 rule in Kansas City? Do you have a plan for when more people will be able to come back and keep them safe as they’re volunteering?
Valerie: Absolutely. For the time being, clearly, we are getting our guidance from the city, the state, and our local health departments. And so we will always meet or exceed their recommendations. But as soon as we are able to resume normal operations that will be at a point in time where we believe based on the information that we have and the guidance that the professionals are giving us to bring folks back in so that they can work in a safe environment.
Fr. Justin: So even though you don't yet have a date for folks to be able to come back and volunteer, they can run food drives at home, in their neighborhood, and bring that food down. And they can donate. I want to make sure that everybody is able to support you, so you can go to Harvesters.org. You can donate, you can sign up to volunteer for when they do open again, and you can also get involved and get educated. I think one of the things that I've really enjoyed about this conversation is that you've helped me to get a little bit more educated about the kind of systemic issues in food insecurity, underlying issues that drive food insecurity, and you've also helped me understand a little bit more about the immediate need. I always end every podcast, Valerie, with this question. There are a lot of leaders who are listening who are wanting to learn to lead with greater social impact wherever they are. What do those who are listening need to do? They might not all be able to join nonprofits. They might not all be able to do what you talked about early on. But what can they do? And how can leaders increase their social impact to help solve the food insecurity crisis in Kansas City and in the United States?
Valerie: We talked a little bit about it. First and foremost, I think is just being aware of the issue and some of those underlying causes, and then determining what area of this whole aspect of food insecurity you would like to be involved in. You won't conquer all of the ills or issues in one day, but if you focus in one area, then clearly you can make a difference. But also, just listening to the people that you want to provide assistance to. If you listen and try to meet their needs, versus trying to meet your own goals and objectives, then I think you’re head and shoulders above the rest. It's all about the people we serve and if we keep them front and center, we will make the decisions and take the actions that are necessary to make a difference in their lives.
Fr. Justin: Valerie, I really appreciate you, as we end our time together, helping all of us to remember that we got to keep a focus as leaders and focus isn't just on the ROI of our company, right? But the focus can also be at the same time, what social impact do I want to have as a leader, and getting that focus, getting educated. And then what you said is critically important, that idea of listening first, not rushing in to serve. That's actually how things get turned upside down. When we waste money, waste time, waste effort, trying to give a community what we think they need, rather than actually embracing humility and the vulnerability and taking the time to go and to listen to the community first and ask, what is it that you really need and how can I help? I love that you brought out those two things because I think they are key aspects of what leaders need to do in order to become social leaders. So Valerie, I really appreciate the time that you've given us today on The Social Leader podcast. Is there any last word or any final thought that you want to leave us with as we wrap up our time today?
Valerie: Just a couple things. I do want to commend the people throughout our metropolitan area because we have some very, very generous people who do what they can. And that's the thing about nonprofits and the work that we do. Nothing is too much and nothing is too little when it's on the part of an individual. But then I'll also say how much, Father Justin, that I appreciate you and the work that you do and the innovative thinking that you bring to the work and the way in which you're able to bring so many different people of our community together right on 31st and Troost, really the heart of our city, if you think about it. And so I just admire the work that you do. I am inspired, and you give me some great ideas.
Fr. Justin: Well, thank you for the compliments and to be honest with you, it isn't me. It's the team that we have at Reconciliation Services. And it's not just us, Valerie, I mean it. We could not do Thelma’s Kitchen or what we do without Harvesters and, just like you, without hundreds and hundreds of volunteers. And I want to encourage everybody one more time, go to Harvesters.org. Check out the work that Valerie is doing. Check out the work of Harvesters. If your heart is burdened with the food insecurity in our region and across our country, now's the time. If you've ever wanted to increase your social impact as a leader, this is a great way to begin. Go to Harvesters.org, give as generously as you can, and by that, get active, get involved as a social leader. Valerie, thanks again for being my guest on The Social Leader podcast today.
Valerie: Thank you!
Fr. Justin: Well, friends, I want to wrap up our time just by reminding you that The Social Leader is presented by Reconciliation Services and sponsored by Thelma's Kitchen. If you want to get involved at Thelma's Kitchen right here at 31st and Troost, you can make a dent in the food insecurity in Kansas City. We are open five days a week, Monday through Friday from 11am to 2pm. Normally, Thelma’s Kitchen is a restaurant and we bring everybody together to eat a five star Yelp-rated meal for lunch on Troost Avenue, but right now because of the pandemic, of course, we're closed. We're social distancing. We are looking forward to being able to open again, but right now we still need your help. Since the beginning of January, Thelma’s Kitchen has had a 347% increase in the number of meals served right out of our front door. If you go to Harvesters.org, you will see Reconciliation Services and Thelma's Kitchen as a key part of their community network. And if you want to get involved with Thelma’s Kitchen, in particular, go to ThelmasKitchen.org, find out how you can volunteer or sponsor a meal. We really appreciate your help. Hey, as we wrap up The Social Leader, I want to again bring back that challenge that Valerie gave us: to take the time to learn, to take the time to find a focus, to let our hearts break with the things that break God's heart, to become more vulnerable. And then to begin to listen before we rush in, to begin as leaders to really listen deeply to the community and figure out how no matter what you do, no matter whether you're a foreman on a construction company, or the CEO of a huge company, or a stay at home parent, how you can become a social leader in this region. If you'd like to find out more about how to become a social leader and what the key fundamentals of a social leader are, I want to ask you to go to TheSocialLeader.org. It's a brand new e-course that Reconciliation Services is getting ready to launch in the next couple of weeks. It's going to give you the three essential skills that you're going to need to begin the process of becoming a social leader, deepening your impact, and growing your leadership influence in the community to solve the social problems that you care the most about. So go to TheSocialLeader.org. Once again, thank you for joining us today on The Social Leader podcast. I look forward to seeing you next time.