Food policy experts say that before the pandemic, roughly one out of every eight or nine Americans struggled to afford food. Now some say as many as one out of every four will join the ranks of the hungry as millions lose their jobs.
Ellen Knickmeyer and Jacquelyn Martin teamed up to put a heartbreaking face on those millions by spending an extended period with Janeth and Roberto, an immigrant couple on the outskirts of the nation’s capital who regularly skip meals to ensure their 5-year-old daughter has enough to eat. Their moving text and photo package, sensitively rendered, brought home how precarious life is for people living on the margins and how the social safety net fails to protect many of them.
Just one powerful excerpt: “On a good day recently, after Roberto landed four hours of work preparing take-home meals for a grocery store, they had enough for what constitutes a feast these days – a can of refried beans split three ways and two eggs each, scrambled. Janeth also made tortillas from their last half-bag of masa flour.”
The story received strong play with heavy reader engagement, and made front pages around the country. Within hours of the story being published, readers began reaching out wanting to know how to help the family. A typical excerpt: “I can’t afford a large amount of money, but can help with a few groceries. The story broke my heart.”
Janeth holds her daughter Allison, 5, by the hand as her sister Lourdes picks up a bag of food that Janeth’s family gathered for them in Baltimore, April 14, 2020. Without vehicles they are unable to get food at local food banks, and their unfamiliarity with the charity system, in addition to a language barrier, compound the problems of obtaining food.
AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin
After cooking the fanily’s one meal for the day of beans, egg and handmade tortillas, Janeth stands in her kitchen in Washington, April 15, 2020, worrying: "Where can we get enough food? How can we pay our bills? We have never had to ask for help before," says Janeth, with tears winding their way down her cheeks.
AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin
In a chilly wind, Allison, 5, leans into her mother Janeth as her father Roberto stands in line to receive a bag of donated food at a Methodist church in Washington, April 21, 2020.
AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin
Allison, 5, holds two bananas next to her mother Janeth after receiving them instead of the cereal she hoped for, at a food bank in Washington, April 21, 2020. Allison asked the volunteers for cereal but there was none available that day.
AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin
The kitchen cabinets of Arely, Janeth’s sister, are down to a few items including flour, dried beans, rice and barbecue sauce, in Baltimore, April 14, 2020. Arely is a recent asylum seeker from Honduras who says and her children are fleeing gang violence. On the counter are two boxes of food that Janeth’s family brought to them after scouring Washington food banks and churches to get enough food for the families to share.
AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin
Allison, 5, plays with dandelions next to her mother Janeth and their dog Henry, in Washington, April 15, 2020.
AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin
Allison, 5, wears a painter’s mask to protect her against the coronavirus after her parents visited a food bank in Washington, April 21, 2020. With both parents out of work due to the coronavirus pandemic, they look for food each day to share with their extended family. Most days it is a question of whether to buy food or pay bills with the dwindling funds they family has remaining.
AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin