What the government shutdown means for food aid and public health

S1: Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman. On today's show , snap benefits will restart , but with deep cuts. San Diego is seeing flight delays and health officials warn there's also a delay in health data just as cold and flu season arrive. This is KPBS Midday Edition connecting our communities through conversation. So the government shutdown is on track to be the longest in history this week. Its impact is far reaching right now. Some flights at the San Diego airport are delayed about an hour and a half because of staffing shortages. Officials there advise arriving at least two hours ahead of takeoff. Also , federal health tracking data is unavailable to providers just as cold and flu season arrives. Plus , Cal Fresh recipients are now navigating delayed food benefits. The news comes as the Trump administration now says those Snap benefits will be partially funded after recent court rulings determined the government must use contingency funds to keep the program going. And local food banks , though , are standing in to fill the gap. And that's where we start our show. Joining me now is Andrea Caldwell from the San Diego Food Bank. Andrea , welcome to Midday Edition.

S2: Thanks so much for having me.

S1: Glad you're here.

S2: We know that if benefits had gone away altogether , that would have created a deficit of up to 16 million meals. So we are encouraged to hear that folks will at least get partial benefits. It. Um , but we know that this will not fill the gap for many of our , um , community members who who rely on on these benefits every month.

S1:

S2: We receive guidance from California Department of Social Services , and we're tracking the news in real time , just like everyone else. We do understand from USDA that because there are partial benefits , and this is something that historically we understand hasn't been done before , it could take states some time to get those out. So we do expect there to be a continued delay in getting benefits out to folks.

S1:

S2: But again , we're waiting for official guidance from the state on that. Mhm.

S1: Mhm. Well listen , like many food banks you all are seeing an increase in need. What has that been like. Yes.

S2: Yes. We are definitely experiencing an increase of need. Of course we started seeing that when the government shut down the 1st of October. Um , just in that time during October , we saw an increase in our non-profit partners to distribute food in their communities , about a 7% increase in requests for food that they needed to help their communities. At our Client Choice Pantry up in our Vista location , we saw a 6.6% increase in folks coming to visit that facility , and then a ten times increase in folks applying for food bank ID cards. Um , and that was again , just our our government workers that were furloughed or working without pay. And then of course , now we're seeing the delay in Cal Fresh benefits. Um , that is almost doubling our , our normal , Mole number of community members that receive help from the food bank.

S1:

S2: We had a really nice stockpile to begin with of food here at the food bank , but we have , uh , worked to increase that. We've spent about a $500,000 just to increase the amount of food that we have. And then as the the fresh delays continue , we expect to spend between 100 and $300,000 a week to scale a response and maintain a sufficient food supply for these folks.

S1:

S2: Uh , if folks want to volunteer , we definitely would love to have them direct them to our volunteer , um , site at San Diego Foodbank , for sure.

S1: And you know you've got everything you need now. But is there anything our listeners can do to continue this momentum ? Yeah.

S2: Yeah. Thanks. I think even though , um , you know , the delays , you know , if they come , even a short term disruption causes a long term hardship. So we want sort of twofold. We want folks to know that if you need help and need food resources , we want them to know that we're here to support them. We do have our GPS food locator map , um , so folks can find food resources from the food bank near them. And then if your listeners are in a position to give , we definitely encourage them to make a donation. Every dollar that we get , uh , equals two meals and helps power our mission during this critical time in getting food out to our community.

S1:

S2: We were able to serve about 2000 individuals and lots of thank yous , and we don't know what we would do without you. And just a lot of heartfelt gratitude coming from those folks who who needed us.

S1: That is is excellent. And we're glad that you are in the community helping. I've been speaking with Andrea Caldwell from the San Diego Food Bank. Andrea , thank you very much.

S2: Thank you.

S1: Another area impacted by the shutdown is public health and access to data. Right now , at a time of year when respiratory viruses become more common , and with the holidays approaching , it's unacceptable for a lot of providers. So how is this actually affecting all of that ? And what does it mean for health care providers and the patients they treat. I'm joined now by Richard Garrett Griffin. He is a professor of public health and infectious disease with UC San Diego. Professor , welcome to Midday Edition. Hi.

S3: Hi. Happy to be here.

S1: Happy to have you here. Um , Richard , we know that flu season is upon us , as well as other respiratory illnesses like RSV. Covid is still around too.

S3: And these health departments don't necessarily have the resources or the expertise to analyze that data themselves. So all these data sort of feed into national surveillance systems. And then the CDC manages that data and then feeds it back to the health departments and , and providers through dashboard. So they can they can see their own data , but they can also see what's happening around the country. And so these data are very valuable in being able to monitor trends. And they can see when they're starting to see , uh , increases in the number of cases that are starting to occur. And that's critical for health care providers to know what they can be expecting in terms of the volume of patients coming into emergency departments and being hospitalized and getting the word out about vaccinations , etc.. So it's going to have a big impact.

S1: You know , tracking wastewater has also become a powerful tool to to track those infections and communities.

S3: The national wastewater surveillance system is not functioning right now. And as you said , that's an important source of data. So it's it's a new tool that started during Covid where we've learned that you can look for , um , DNA from the the viruses in wastewater. And we sort of look at how the not only the fluctuations in the volume of , um , evidence of disease in the wastewater , but also the strains of the viruses that are circulating. So we can sort of anticipate whether these are more virulent strains that are going to cause more serious disease , as well as planning for new forms of vaccines that can be used to go after the most , uh , the most current versions of the virus. So , uh , without that information , we have even less information to anticipate and plan for what's coming down the road.

S1: I was wondering about that , how that might impact flu vaccines , for example.

S3: And so the vaccines are developed with that sort of knowledge. And and it's been pretty effective. The vaccines , they don't always get it right. But for the most part , the vaccines have been very effective in mitigating the effect of outbreaks of influenza.

S1: And when we're talking about data , these large data sets are also used for other types of outbreaks , not just infectious diseases , but also food borne illnesses as well. How do those work to prevent those those foodborne issues ? Yeah.

S3: So there's a database called the Food Net that tracks foodborne illnesses across the country. And the these are crucial because whereas you might see just a couple of cases of disease in a community that might be related to , um , um , getting infected with a pathogen from a food source , uh , local health officials might not necessarily recognize that as an outbreak or a problem. They might just think it's a sporadic case , but with a database like Food Net , where they can track cases from around the country , and they use sophisticated sequencing technology to determine whether or not the the bug that one person is infected with and one part of the country is the same as in another country , then they can say , hmm , how are those related ? And oftentimes they can be tracked back to a food source. It might be a provider of , say , ice cream or frozen strawberries or or green onions. These have all been nationwide outbreaks that have occurred. And then that leads to food recalls. And then , um , uh , training and , and mitigation at the food source to make sure that these outbreaks don't continue. And , and that can't happen without these databases.

S1: You know , all of this sounds so concerning , especially for people who may face some illness.

S3: Um , as I said earlier , state and local health departments receive , uh , support from the CDC in terms of in terms of funding , but also expertise and then management of these data. And without that kind of support. Uh , health departments are sort of relying on themselves to do sort of DIY assessment of their own data. And , and they oftentimes don't have those resources or the expertise. And so the , um , it creates , it creates it really sort of diminishes the US's ability to monitor and and track and respond effectively to outbreaks of infectious diseases , but also monitoring chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension and things like that as well. Um , we're just all , um , less protected without the resources that were available from the CDC and our state and local health departments. Wow.

S1: Wow. Certainly something to be concerned about. Richard Griffin is a professor and infectious disease expert at UC San Diego's Herbert Wertheim School of Public Medicine. Richard , thank you so very much.

S3: You're very welcome. Thank you.

S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.