That is the sound of carrots, thousands of carrots being poured by volunteers into brown

paper bags at a gigantic food bank pop-up in San Antonio.

Back in March, when the pandemic first really hit the US, the San Antonio food bank started

doing these mega distributions most Fridays at the Alamo Dome, a sports arena near downtown.

Months later, they're still getting more than a thousand families coming through each week.

There's no more than that income, so that's one of the reason, you know, at least we have food.

Rosario Sapeda is here for the first time. She's a hairstylist. State COVID quarantine shut her down

for a while in the spring, and her business isn't back to normal yet. So she was in line at the

food bank at 5 a.m. Even though food isn't handed out until 9, because she had to get back to work,

and she's got even more mouths to feed. Look, it's my daughter. It has four kids in the husband,

because you know, they don't work and then no rent and they have to move in the house.

That's the toughest thing.

Sapeda and her family aren't alone. Two years ago, about 12% of American households reported that

the food they bought just didn't last, and they didn't have enough money to get more.

Then the pandemic hit. That number nearly doubled. For households with children,

the food insecurity rate close to tripled.

Consider this. As the pandemic recession drags on, millions of Americans can't afford enough to eat,

and the clash between the White House and Democratic lawmakers means there may not be more

help on the way. From NPR, I'm Audit Cornish. It's Wednesday, October 7.

With the unemployment rate at record highs right now,

millions of Americans are without health insurance. This week on Thurline, how our health care

became tied to our jobs, and how a temporary solution turned into an everlasting problem.

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