As Food Banks Near Depletion, Is Civil Unrest Eminent?

We’ve all seen the old black and white photos from the 1930s, where hundreds of citizens would line up at soup lines for their daily meal during the Great Depression.

While the depression pre-WWII was certainly hard on the United States, it may end up paling in comparison to what could be around the corner brought to us courtesy of a microscopic virus that is rampaging across our land. 

The differences between ‘The Great Depression’ of some 90-years ago and today are quite striking. While yes, there were soup-lines, the bulk of our nation at that time in our history was rural. Many of the families in our country could feed themselves because they had land and knew the basics of growing their own supplies. Today’s circumstances are vastly different in that few own land anymore, and secondarily, the reality is, most do not even know how to grow a tomato.

Even small rural homes had chickens, a milk cow, a garden, and while their menu might leave something to be desired, at least they could eat. Today, most families have a week’s worth of groceries in the cupboard and rely on Saturday morning trips to their local Walmart or Kroger store to feed their families.

The long-expected to happen has unfortunately begun arriving.

Warehouses (for the major chain grocer’s) have begun having their supply chains broken. In a span of only 2-3 weeks, our nation’s unemployment has risen from 3% to over 10%. That is some 15-20 million idled workers in an unprecedented span of time. And the tragedy is, it didn’t happen from a natural economic downturn, it happened because Governors shut their states down and ordered businesses to close. It was almost if most of our Governors decided one night to shut down our entire nation’s economy and shatter our ability to earn a living. 

The psychological impact on our country is only now becoming a reality.

Our citizens are beginning to feel helpless, food is just beginning to run out, gun sales have soared, and hunger is the one item in our human experience that will cause people to do things they would not normally do. Having a child cry out from hunger is something parents can not, nor will they be willing to deal with. At that point in time, a parent will do whatever is necessary to feed their child. Even if it means committing a crime. 

Food banks in Cleveland, Pittsburg, and Houston are now reporting shortages to fulfill the need of the families needing assistance. Just yesterday in San Antonio, over 6,000 families showed up for enough groceries to last 2-weeks. Over 1,000,000 pounds of food were distributed. 

There is almost no doubt that Americans are confused over the various national coronavirus restrictions put in place in efforts to curb the spread of the deadly virus.

For instance, yesterday in Michigan, Governor Whitmer signed an executive order, further restricting traveling between two homes. What this is supposed to accomplish is anyone’s guess, but apparently, she put the order in place to stop citizens from traveling to their vacation homes in the far northern reaches of the state. 

As Michigan was further clamping down on its citizenry, out in Seattle, Washington, Boeing Aircraft was announcing that beginning next week; they would be recalling some 2,500 workers back to work. Washington has been the target of nothing but negative media attention as it was the Seattle area where Corona had killed many senior citizens in retirement homes in the area. 

The news of Boeing could not have come at a better time. If anything, it gives hope to American citizens, and it might just be the very thing that begins a cascading effect of other corporations preparing to re-open after this national nightmare. 

With food pantries running out of food, and millions laid off or having lost their jobs, our nation sorely needed some good news to stave off any more panic. 

We are far from being out of the woods yet, but if we can pull together, help our neighbors out, and not hoard items such as toilet paper, we can overcome this national crisis that has brought our great nation to its knees in many ways. 

This Easter weekend has also brought another bit of good news for most of our citizens. President Trump and the Treasury Department have announced that the week of April 13th, the stimulus checks where the government is going pay each taxpayer some $1,200 each are scheduled to begin going out. This, too, will be welcomed relief to many. 

The very last thing our nation needs in civil unrest.

The fear is already setting in cities such as Chicago, New York City and other heavily populated urban areas. If the checks can indeed go out, food pantries can stay stocked along with grocery stores, we may just have a good chance of pulling out of this nightmare in one piece. But if we do begin running out of food, checks won’t matter, the American people will indeed panic and then the real trouble would begin.

As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior this Sunday, this seems like a very good time for all Americans to get down on bended knee and pray for our collective salvation from this virus and pray for our leadership in this nation. This would surely be an appropriate time to do this for our country. 

By Ken Crow
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