NARRATIVE RESPONSES TO THE FOOD INSECURITY SURVEY

This webpage consists of a selection of narrative responses.

“I'm just living on, like, wisps and dust and hopes and dreams and picket line pizza. It's rough.”

“I know several creatives who are on food assistance programs, and more who want to be - but it’s so difficult to qualify and prove need because of how our income looks (enormous at some moments, zero at others). Same for unemployment because of the contract nature of some jobs. The system is not made for those in the gig economy.”

“Financial insecurity in all generality makes it impossible to live; and you fall into a self-defeating loop where you struggle to create because you worry about money, while worrying about money because you struggle to create. As a feature writer I've worked for dozens of financiers and studios. Only five or so of those studios have paid me, and one of them still owes me for four full years of work. We aren't paid for our services--and because we are not paid, we cannot put food on the table.”

“Cost of living is higher; so even though it might not be food insecurity, financial insecurity is very real for a lot of folks, and quality of life suffers significantly if you don't want to go into debt (i.e. have enough food, etc.)”

“While staffed there is zero insecurity but because there are such long periods of unemployment in between jobs, it eventually rears its ugly head. Generally I make it stretch during those times by buying more processed (and less healthy) foods because they are much more affordable and can last longer.”

“I was receiving SNAP benefits which were reduced from $232 per month to $23 per month.”

“I relied heavily on EBT to supplement my grocery budget. Due to the removal of COVID's status as a national emergency, the availability and amount of funds provided through CalFresh has significantly declined.”

“When working in production I never earned more than $30,000 a year.”

“The thing with film production is when you are working--income is steadily coming in. Then, there are periods of time when you are not working--in between projects--so there are always ‘dry spells’ where there is no income. The leads to substantial financial insecurity and scarcity.”

“Since moving here in 2016, I have never experienced real stability. I first went on food stamps when a former roommate [did not pay their] rent in June 2016--less than a week after the first and only time I attained eligibility for my union health insurance, which I then promptly had to drop to go back on Medi-Cal. I have not been able to get off either since. That being said, the pandemic destroyed any semblance of stability I had, including the work I'd been doing (a path no longer viable due to post-pandemic changes) and any number of months of savings I'd had, now completely obliterated.”

“Living outside of a major city, we have limited access to certain foods (particularly fresh vegetables) and inflation has drastically impacted prices for even the most basic foods. Our household food budget has at least doubled in the last year simply because of inflation.”

“Thanks to my credit cards, I haven’t experienced food insecurity throughout the strike. My credit bills are exorbitant, but food is still on the table, thank God.🙏🏾”

“It's depressing that America doesn't support its artists and citizens.”

“In the past few years I’ve been lucky enough not to experience food insecurity. Partly because my husband or I were both employed, but also since this business is so volatile we’ve become rigorous about saving large sums of money just in case. That savings has literally saved us too many times to count. But those funds are also nearly depleted post-COVID and now a five month strike. It will take us a long while to replenish them. So hopefully there won’t be more work disruptions. Because if there were, we'd have a harder time sustaining food security for sure.”

“Since the strike began, we have been blowing through our savings at an alarming rate. The cost of food in LA has been one of the anxiety-causing factors, but honestly, food assistance has been one of the easiest things to find, through Humanitas, CalFresh, etc. It's other things, like rent, child care, car payments, etc., that are the overwhelming and enormous expenses. Food is a place where we can get some assistance so that we save enough to cover the other expenses that nobody is offering aid on.”

“Several community fridges in my area have closed in the past few months, and the ones that remain are almost always empty.”

“I use a combination of food stamps, unemployment, and temp gig earnings to feed myself. I have significant health concerns my doctor needs me to address and nutrition is key. I would love to eat healthier, but healthy food costs more and I need to stretch my resources as far as possible. The DPSS no longer provides an additional CalFresh supplement each month (it was a COVID-era program that's expired) so I run out of food stamps fairly quick (in part because I DO purchase healthier foods while I can), and by mid-month must use my limited cash to purchase food.”

“Exceptional amounts of ‘emerging writers’ (those of us with film & TV PA or similar credits) with at least 5 years of writing and trying to ‘make it’ in the industry are living below the poverty line.”

“Lots of credit card debt--is an answer to most of the above questions. My partner and I have not skipped meals, etc., but we have added lots of debt.”