To someone not in the trenches of food distribution in Orange County, or on the other end, receiving help so their family doesn’t go hungry, it might seem like the pandemic-driven food crisis of the past 12 months is finally easing up.
A lot of signs suggest it. Coronavirus case rates are dropping in Southern California (though they’re rising elsewhere.) Vaccines are common. And a soon-to-arrive financial shot — from the $1.2 trillion American Rescue Plan signed into law on March 12 — suggests the economy is poised to rebound.
But look again, say operators of the county’s two biggest food banks and directors of the pantries and nonprofits who have spent the past year responding to the most harrowing need for food assistance in recent county history.