Relief agencies feed thousands with USDA food

Food and Nutrition, April, 1987 by Yves Gerem

Relief Agencies Feed Thousands With USDA Food

The tornado in Fisher, an Arkansastown of 350, southwest of Jonesboro, struck in the dead of night. It completely destroyed the post office and 18 homes, and tore up another 25 houses. Five persons were killed. The governor estimated the damage at $15 million.

"I remember that night very well,' recallsFood and Nutrition Service (FNS) food program specialist John Lindsay. "I have a weather scanner at home to watch for this kind of problem, but I picked this one up on the police radio. I heard there were ambulances racing to Fisher.'

Like many times before during his 12years with FNS' Jonesboro satellite office, Lindsay got in touch with the county judge.

"I worked with the judge for the next10 days or so,' he says. "I went to Fisher two or three times daily and clocked in more than 800 miles before it was over.'

USDA food was rushed to scene

During any natural or man-made dissater,food donated by USDA is made available to official relied agencies.

"The tornado in Fisher would be atypical example of when we may ask for USDA commodities,' says Burton Zavelo, disaster coordinator for the Arkansas Department of Human Services.

The very first meals served to tornadovictims and workers repairing the damage in Fisher came from local sources, but as soon as USDA commodities became available the day after the tornado struck, up to 200 meals were served daily.

The feeding went on for 10 days.The homeless were put up with relatives and neighbors, with the help of the Red Cross and local church groups.

Priscilla Schmitz, disaster coordinatorfor FNS' Southewest region, says that USDA commodities are normally made available from the nearest school to make it possible to prepare emergency meals.

"That's because schools have thefacilities and know-how to serve large groups,' she says. "Any USDA commodities in storage at schools may be used for mass feeding.' Later, USDA will replace the commodities used.

The USDA commodities rushed toFisher came from Batesville, Arkansas. Zavelo would have preferred to ask for commodities from Jonesboro, but it was the district's spring break and most school buildings were inaccessible.

Gertrude Applebaum, for 40 years afood service director with the Corpus Christi (Texas) Independent School District, has gone through many disasters where her schools were made available to feed large numbers of people.

"In Corpus Christi schools,' shesays, "we can prepare 5,000 sandwiches or 20,000 hot meals based on USDA commodities.

"These commodities are wonderful,'she says. "They can help feed an awful lot of people after any disaster.'

When food needs to be replaced,USDA purchases additional commodities or transfers food from storage.

"USDA commodities are very, veryimportant in any disaster,' says Zavelo. "In small towns, like Fisher, where fast food outlets and supermarkets are nonexistent and there's no way to get ready-to-eat donated meals, these commodities are practically the only alternative.'

Disaster teams respond quickly

Priscilla Schmitz relies heavily onpeople like John Lindsay while responding to natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, and floods, or man-made disasters, like chemical contamination.

FNS' Southwest region has an experienceddisaster response team that can handle any of these emergencies. The team consists, in addition to Schmitz, of employees representing all food assistance programs and 13 field offices scattered throughout the five-state Southwest region.

"We deal early on with the NationalWeather Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), our Office of Regional Operations in Washington, and in some cases with state disaster offices,' says Schmitz.

"The hurricanes you can predetermine--we usually make contacts with our field offices which monitor the situation. Hen there's a flood, water comes quickly, then recedes, so a different response is called for.'

Zavelo was among the first peopleLindsay called. He also kept in touch with FNS district manager Don Arnette and the agency's Southwest public affairs office, both in Dallas.

The public affairs director acts as aliaison between USDA and other agencies and, when needed, informs disaster victims about the availability of USDA assistance.

"I cannot emphasize stronglyenough how critical cooperation with local elected officials is,' says Bobby Hood, FNS manager in Arkansas. "These officials come to the site, assess the damage, set up the chain of command, make requests for assistance, and see that we all work together.'

Help available within hours

Ronnie Rhodes, who served as FNS'Southwest disaster coordinator for 9 years, recalls one instance when the military had to airlift USDA commodities to help the victims of the hurricane and floods that followed in the Houston area.

"The Red Cross and the SalvationArmy had large numbers of people to feed,' he says, "and we needed beef. We found a good supply in an El Paso warehouse, but we had no means of getting it to Houston as fast as it was needed. We talked to the Department of Defense, and they airlifted several thousands pounds of it from El Paso within hours.'