By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

FEEDING 18,000 families on a monthly basis is a job the government should consider on a long-term basis, according to Bahamas Feeding Network Executive Director Philip Smith.

Mr Smith made the suggestion yesterday while confirming the National Food Distribution Task Force’s assistance to those who are food insecure will continue through to the end of September.

In April it was confirmed the programme would continue through the end of June. Initially it was set to end in August 2020 but was extended several times to assist those still largely affected by the pandemic.

The many extensions are proof that this issue won’t simply just fade away, Mr Smith said.

“I think it should be extended until next year some time,” Mr Smith said yesterday. “I would say until probably June of next year or so. That is my guess.

“Even after that there will still be a lot of food insecure persons in the Bahamas as a result of the pandemic.”

The Minnis administration has allocated $25,239,375 for the food assistance programme this fiscal year.

“On an ongoing basis something that the Bahamas Feeding Network does for quite a number of years is feed people. The Department of Statistics said several years ago that 12 to 15 percent of people were food insecure. I think that was conservative because they used $4 per day as the amount that one had to earn. It was a total of $12 but of that $12 it was $4 on food and that is very difficult to do, to exist on that budget daily for food. Even with that statistic maybe six years ago I think that was off.

“So, I think the population on an ongoing basis you are probably looking at about 20 percent of the population is food insecure and that is about 80,000 individuals and so what we are doing now the task force is feeding 18,000 families.

“We estimate four persons per family and so that works out to be 72,000 individuals so you may find that that may be the figure going forward that we will have to look after. In the final phase, officials reduced the eligible number of people by 60 percent or just over 60 percent from when it fed 55,000 families or 220,000 individuals in the first phase.

“Phase three was reduced to 18,000 families or 72,000 individuals. So going forward, we believed that number we reduced it to was probably less than it should’ve been.”

Back in January Mr Smith said there have been many instances where those not included on the food distribution list have reached out to the organisation for food help.

“Some of the persons we took off the list should’ve probably still been on,” he added. “I was not involved in that process but definitely those on the list are the unemployed… but it is my belief that we would have not captured everyone when we came to that 18,000 so that would’ve been about 20 percent (from the initial number) that we’re now feeding.

“Because a lot of persons are still coming but they’re just not on our list… but we still do our best to assist and we have been able to assist quite a bit of them but it’s always a challenge. You know you have to eat to live and there are some people who are truly challenged.”