An effort in Texas helps members of the military with food insecurity issues

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An effort in Texas helps members of the military with food insecurity issues

Transcript¹

Even without a pandemic, food insecurity is a real issue. In a recent survey, 20% of active-duty respondents said they've experience food insecurity and 10% experienced hunger.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Food insecurity among Americans remains² a real issue, and that also includes U.S. military households. Twenty percent of active-duty respondents to a recent survey say they've experienced food insecurity, and more than 10% experienced hunger. Congress passed a spending bill that includes help for struggling military families. The secretary of defense³ has called for an action plan, but while that may be a start, Texas Public Radio's Paul Flahive reports it isn't clear if that'll be enough.

PAUL FLAHIVE, BYLINE⁴: Soon after getting married, Tabetha Lamb and her husband, a second Lt. in the Army, were moved to a base in Minot, N.D. The move was challenging, and not just because it started snowing in September and didn't stop, but because the two college graduates had to start paying back loans and his first paychecks in the new assignment weren't correct. They were too low for his rank. By Christmas, they were feeling the crunch⁵.

TABETHA LAMB: There were a few times we got really, really nervous. I did not go to the food pantry at that point because he was an officer, and that was really frowned upon.

FLAHIVE: Rather than ask for help, the two racked up $5,000 in credit card debt. Lamb's father was in the Air Force, and they often struggled early in his career, but she says the attitude in the military has always been if you can't make the ends meet, you aren't being responsible.

LAMB: My God, my dad was working freaking three jobs on top of being in the military. It's just that there's not enough income coming in.

FLAHIVE: Decades after Minot, she says that stigma⁶ is still there.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Right about there. Thank you, ma'am.

FLAHIVE: She sees it on the faces of active-duty service members when she volunteers at mass food distributions with the San Antonio Food Bank, like this one at Fort Sam Houston, near downtown.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Celery, sweet potatoes, squash, what other vegetables were there?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: We also have broccoli⁷ and...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Oh, regular potatoes. White potatoes.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Regular potatoes. OK.

FLAHIVE: Members of U.S. Army North bag up produce and quickly pack it into the trunks and truck beds of a long line of cars.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: You're all set.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Thank you, ma'am.

FLAHIVE: Wife and husband, Angela and Andy Thompson, sit in line in their neon green Kia Soul. Angela has cancer, which has put an extra burden on their income. Andy is an active-duty Army specialist.

ANDY THOMPSON: The pay is sufficient to care for me and my family in completely normal circumstances. Add anything complicated to it, and there's little bits here and there that, you know, come up short.

FLAHIVE: Most people NPR spoke⁸ with in line did not want to be identified, like this woman. She and her husband are both veterans. They used food pantries often throughout their time in service. And now, with an injury making her, her husband's caregiver, along with their two children, they need the help more than ever.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: I don't want people to realize that I have to ask for help. Like, I'm a mom that can't provide everything I can for my kids. It sucks. And everybody on the outside always thinks that we can take care of ourselves, and sometimes we can't.

CHRISTINE ABRAHAM: I remember when we first started doing this, people didn't even want to roll the windows down to even speak to us.

FLAHIVE: Christine Abraham was an Army dietitian⁹ for 28 years. She now runs the culinary wellness program on base. The pandemic highlighted hunger to the nation, but Abraham says when they started this on-base distribution a year ago, not everyone understood the need.

ABRAHAM: I've seen a lot of angry people when it comes to, oh, the food insecurity is not a problem - people angry that we're doing this. That wasn't a problem when I was active duty. I'm like, I don't know what rank you might have been, but it's a problem. It's always been a problem.

FLAHIVE: She says this on-base distribution puts the problem on display and hopes it helps normalize people asking for help. Today, they'll help more than 250 households go home with food.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ABRAHAM: My fear is to turn people away. That hurts (crying). I mean, you know, you want the food to go to those families that need it. The idea that we won't have enough, that hurts.

FLAHIVE: There are still barriers to military members accessing other federal food aid, like SNAP, Abraham says. Glancing furtively¹⁰ at the line of cars, she's just worried about feeding this line of people today.

For NPR News, I'm Paul Flahive in San Antonio.

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 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

6 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

7 broccoli   

n.绿菜花，花椰菜

参考例句：

• She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
• They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的，而菜花都是白色的。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 dietitian   

n.营养学家

参考例句：

• You can seek the advice of a nutritionist or dietitian.你可以征求营养师或饮食专家的意见。
• I have no doubt she would make a good dietitian.毫无疑问她会成为优秀的营养学家。

10 furtively   

adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地

参考例句：

• At this some of the others furtively exchanged significant glances. 听他这样说，有几个人心照不宣地彼此对望了一眼。
• Remembering my presence, he furtively dropped it under his chair. 后来想起我在，他便偷偷地把书丢在椅子下。