Noah Osborn

Period 3
2/24/14

Food Bank CEO Hank Perret Interview

1.

How does donating food help the people in need/ how much of an impact does it make?

Donating food does help fill in the gaps for the Capital Area Food Banks inventory. Although it
is not the largest resource of food for the food bank, organized food drives (where we request
specific staple items) can help us get higher demand items in the warehouse quickly.
2.

What help if any is the government providing? Money, man power, etc.

We receive federal commodities from the US Department of Agriculture, called The Emergency
Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). TEFAP is approximately 30% of our inventory, and makes
up the largest portion of our inventory. We also work to enroll our food bank clients in SNAP
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. This is a federal
assistance program for people at 130% of the poverty level or less that helps them purchase
food.
3.

How do such large amounts of people slip into poverty and start needing outside help?

In some cases, poverty is cyclical. A child born into an impoverished family has fewer resources
available to help them climb out of their situationquality PreK and childcare, access to good
K-12 schools, the means to go to college, strong healthcare support, etc. In other situations, we
find many families living just on the edge of poverty. They may be working, but that job is not
enough to meet basic needs. They are constantly making choices (food vs. prescriptions; electric
bill vs. gas for the car). One incidenta job loss, a critical illnesspushes them over the poverty
line.
4.

How much work does it take to gather and deliver food across the city to everyone in need?

It is a huge amount of work, but we have experts on the food bank team who understand logistics
and warehousinghow to efficiently receive food and turn it around in a very short amount of
time. We are the warehouse for over 300 agencies in 21 counties. These agencies are food
pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters. They partner with us, and provide the direct service of food
delivery to the clients. We carefully train our partner agencies so that they comply with correct
food handling and safety procedures, and understand the population they are serving.
5.

How does poverty affect these people, physically and mentally?

Poverty is a very isolating condition: physically, people in poverty often live in neighborhoods
that are unsafe, or are compromised by the environment around itlack of green spaces,
dilapidated buildings, etc. In Austin, we still see a significant physical income divide east and
west of I-35. Mentally, it is draining and stressful because they are often working 2 and 3
minimum wage jobs, trying to make ends meet, and constantly worrying about the future of their
family. Physically, those in poverty have less access to preventative health care, so they suffer
from higher chronic disease rates. They also have fewer resources for physical exercise
walkable sidewalks, green spaces for children to play. Lastly, they have less access to healthy
food. They may live more than a mile away from a full-service grocery, so their closest food
resource is a convenience store with only processed food.
6.

How does poverty and lack of resources affect the community?

For the Austin community as a whole, continuing to have people in poverty affects our
healthcare systemthey need more government assistance for more chronic conditions. We also
have fewer people contributing to the overall improvement of the communityeconomically,
and in other ways.
7.
How is it decided how much food should be given to people, do families with young
children get the better food or more food?
Each of our partner agencies have their own rules. Some will allow a family to come to their
pantry once a month. Others will allow the same family more frequently. Some partner agencies
will distribute an amount of food depending on the size of the household. Others will distribute
the same amount regardless of the size of the household. Our minimum requirement is that our
partner agencies be open at least two hours, twice a month.
8.
When people are getting food from your organization are they very nice and caring toward
each other when they are waiting?
Overall, yes. Occasionally, there will be an incident at a partner agency where a client is
challengingthey may be frustrated simply because they have to get food assistance, or they
may not understand there are limits on the amount of food they can receive. But our partner
agencies try to ensure that order is maintained at all times, and that people are served efficiently
and fairly.
9.
What are some of the things that your volunteers or workers have done that helped
someone tremendously even though they didn't have to do it? Like giving money and that person
manages to bring themselves out of poverty, etc.

We see selfless action all the time. Many of our partner agencies not only offer food assistance,
but also have clothes and utilities assistance. Some offer help with childcare or job training. A
majority of the people who work at our partner agencies are volunteers. They do this service
because they believe in it. We see volunteers help connect people to jobs or opportunities that
help their families all the time.
10. How does poverty affect you?
Poverty is a condition justifying the need for the Capital Area Food Bank, which I run. We see
Central Texas growing, but many people moving here are taking low-wage service jobs.
Therefore, until our overall economic conditions improve, there will be a need for the food
bank. Id like to see the day that I am put out of a job, where food assistance isnt needed in our
community. We live in the richest country in the world with the most resources and available
food. There is no reason anyone in this country should go hungry. Unfortunately, we havent yet
figured out how to provide consistent and affordable access to food for everyone.