美国国家公共电台 NPR--Inflation makes food insecurity top of mind for many this holiday season

Inflation makes food insecurity top of mind for many this holiday season

Transcript¹

Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot speaks with Morning Edition about food insecurity.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Like millions of people in the United States, Claire Babineaux-Fontenot knows what it's like to need help from a food bank.

CLAIRE BABINEAUX-FONTENOT: I found myself in law school, no money for gas, in my little beat-up Toyota Tercel hatchback and no money to eat. So I was desperate. And I turned to the local Salvation² Army. I will never forget that place as long as I live. It's on Airline Highway in Baton³ Rouge⁴, La. I remember what it felt like to need to go there. I was embarrassed. I had my head down. I was preparing myself, steeling myself for all of the probing questions I was about to hear when I got there. And I was really ashamed.

MART?NEZ: But when she walked in, she was treated with kindness and respect.

BABINEAUX-FONTENOT: The lady who did the intake⁵, she didn't ask me any probing questions. All she wanted to know was, how could she help me? She gave me emergency food stamps that day. And she told me, if you need any more, baby, you know where to come.

MART?NEZ: She never had to go back.

BABINEAUX-FONTENOT: But I will never forget that I had to go that time. I'll never forget how I was treated when I went. And I will work hard to make certain that every single person who finds themselves - him, her or theirselves - in that type of circumstance, I want them to have the type of experience that I had.

MART?NEZ: Babineaux-Fontenot is now the CEO of Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks and food pantries. And she told me more and more people in the United States are finding themselves in those same circumstances this Thanksgiving. I asked Babineaux-Fontenot how many people in the U.S. are currently food insecure.

BABINEAUX-FONTENOT: Last estimates that were published reported 53 million people. Unfortunately, we believe that number is greater. The 53 million number reflected the decline that we saw year over year from 2020 to 2021. But our members are reporting increases that sometimes are actually higher rates of demand than they saw even in 2020.

MART?NEZ: And food insecurity, Claire, what does that mean exactly?

BABINEAUX-FONTENOT: Yeah, the USDA has come up with this term. And they conduct surveys and ask very specific questions. And at its core, it's really asking, do you know where your next meal is coming from?

MART?NEZ: What impact has inflation had on people's need for help from food banks?

BABINEAUX-FONTENOT: That is exactly what we believe is the reason for the spike⁶. We were relieved that we were starting to see decreases in those lines. And then we started noticing that they were going up. And at that time, inflation was really heating up. We also had certain programs that were helping⁷ families that were sunsetting - COVID relief that was sunsetting. And when those things started happening altogether, we saw significant increases in demand. And those increases have sustained themselves for several months now.

For many of our members, they have never in their history seen more demand than we have right now. And I'd like to unpack⁸ what inflation means not just for people who are coming to us in need of resources, but also for us as we're trying to provide those resources. We've seen a decrease in donations year over year. I think it's because the American public thinks, you know, we've gotten past the biggest hurdles⁹, which, unfortunately, is not true. So we have a decrease in donated food, a decrease in federal commodities that we rely on to help people who come to us as well. So that means that our members have to go out and buy more food.

So they're buying more food at a time when food costs a lot more money. So all of those tensions are really causing some significant strains on our ability to be helpful. I think the pandemic helped people to see that this is happening here. And it was happening before the pandemic, by the way. We were serving around 40 million people before the pandemic started. What's hard, I think, is knowing that, as I say, it's like the game isn't over but people are leaving the field. And there are tens of millions of people who still need help.

MART?NEZ: When it comes to the people that use food banks, what are some misconceptions about those people that listeners might have?

BABINEAUX-FONTENOT: One of the biggest ones I find is, somehow, people think that they don't work. And it's simply demonstrably not true. So if I could break down whom it is that comes to us in need of help, as a rule, we're talking about children. A huge portion of those who are counting on us and the work that we do would be kids, the elderly, people with disabilities. So people who do not have the wherewithal to be in the workforce¹⁰ rely on us to help fill in the gaps. And then people with at least one job - some of the people who are coming to us in need of resources, not only do they have one job, some of them have more than one job.

MART?NEZ: Someone might be living right next door to someone who is dealing¹¹ with this and never know about it because, one, it's something that people, maybe, are ashamed of. And No. 2, you would think, well, where I live, there's no way anyone could be dealing with food insecurity.

BABINEAUX-FONTENOT: That's exactly right. Wherever it is that you live across this country, hunger is there. You just don't always know where it is. But it's always around us. In the richest, most ostensibly prosperous counties, there are people living with hunger. And again, there are things we can do about it. But it is true.

MART?NEZ: Well, thank you so much for joining us. That's Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks and food pantries. Claire, thanks.

BABINEAUX-FONTENOT: Thank you so much for having me.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

3 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

4 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

5 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。

6 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 unpack   

vt.打开包裹（或行李），卸货

参考例句：

• I must unpack before dinner.我得在饭前把行李打开。
• She said she would unpack the items later.她说以后再把箱子里的东西拿出来。

9 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

10 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。