Haley Mahr, health education consultant for the Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Service Agency, provides nutrition information, recipes and other resources at the entrance to the Farmers Market Saturday in Marquette. Access to healthy food is part of food security, but many working-class families may not have easy access to the funds, transportation, time, resources or equipment needed to purchase and prepare fresh, nutritious foods. (Journal photo by Shannon Konoske)

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is part three of a multi-part series that examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted food insecurity in the Upper Peninsula. Part four will be published in Friday’s edition of The Mining Journal. Parts one and two were published in the May 18 and May 21 editions of the Journal, respectively.

MARQUETTE — Food insecurity and hunger are words which carry the weight of pre-associated imagery or stereotypes, often that of a severely impoverished person living in an urban area. Yet, this image represents only a sliver of the populations frequently affected by constraints on their access to nutritious food. Although many people became newly food insecure amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation has also brought to light the populations whose struggles are normally obscured by preconceived notions about who suffers from food insecurity or hunger.

“Of the 37 million people the government considered food insecure before the coronavirus pandemic, only 30 percent had incomes below the poverty threshold,” Jason DeParle cited from a Columbia University study in his July 2020 New York Times article, “Why Hunger Can Grow Even When Poverty Doesn’t.”

DeParle confirms what many already suspect: Many people who are not technically impoverished — and who do not qualify for federal benefits — are struggling to make ends meet. More specifically, they’re struggling to stretch their incomes enough to put nutritious food on the table.

There is a name for those who work full-time, yet find their incomes stretched thin each month and must carefully consider each penny spent on food: ALICE, an acronym for people who are asset limited, income constrained, and employed.

“ALICE households have incomes above the federal poverty level, but struggle to afford basic household necessities,” according to “ALICE in Michigan: A Financial Hardship Study” which was researched, directed and authored by Stephanie Hoopee, Ph.D., and presented by the Michigan Association of United Ways. The report, which was released this year, uses 2019 data.

ALICE describes many people in the region, as the report states that 36% of households in Marquette County and 54% of households in Alger County are either within the ALICE threshold or below it, in poverty. In many cases, those who fall within the ALICE threshold are prone to food insecurity, despite a misconception that it is an experience reserved for the poor. However, a parallel misconception exists: that being above the poverty line equates to an ability to live comfortably and affordably. Income measured annually, as DeParle points out, doesn’t always align with monthly expenses and the fact that “people (need to) eat daily.”

Yet compared to the report’s estimation of what it costs to survive — not thrive, but simply scrape by — there is a large gap between the poverty level and the survival level.

The 2019 FPL was $12,490 for a single adult and $25,750 for a family of four, while the ALICE Household Survival Budget estimates that a single adult would require an annual income of $21,036 in 2019 to get by, while a family of four would need an annual income of $61,272.

The ALICE Household Survival Budget — which “reflects the bare-minimum cost to live and work in the modern economy” and is based on average costs of medical expenses, rent, mortgage, utilities, transportation and other household necessities, according to the report — offers estimations which are far above the FPL.

“Public assistance programs are based on the FPL, but the FPL is not enough for a household to cover even its most minimal costs, as shown by the comparison to the Household Survival Budget,” the report states.

And as the cost of living, especially the cost of housing, has increased at a rate more rapidly than wages, this gap has only widened.

The city of Marquette’s Ad-Hoc Housing Committee released a report in January stating: “Since 2000, the increase in housing prices ranks highest of Michigan’s 83 counties.”

And yet, incomes have not kept up.

“Median household incomes have risen by 36% between the years 2000 and 2017, while home sale prices have risen by 68%,” the report stated.

That’s a 30% gap between the raise in wages and home prices. Furthermore, when adjusted for inflation to 2017 dollars, incomes have decreased by 11% during this period, according to the report.

Renters and homeowners are equally impacted by the rising prices, with those who fall within the ALICE threshold and below often being especially vulnerable to the consequences of these high rental rates. While renting was once the best housing method for those unable to save for a down payment on a house, rental properties are now exceeding affordability for many people.

“Although there are affordable housing services within the county, nearly half, 48%, of Marquette County renters are paying more than 30% of their income on rent,” the report states. “…The median rental price for all housing types in the city of Marquette listed in November 2020 is over $1,000 per month. This indicates that a large proportion of lower-income renters are impacted by rental rates that are pushing them beyond their means.”

Marquette City Commissioner and Ad-Hoc Housing Committee Chair Evan Bonsall said that the final committee report will be released after its meeting on June 8 and will offer recommendations for a path toward improving the housing affordability issue. He also spoke to the challenges of rising housing costs from his personal observations as a Marquette resident.

“I’m a renter and I spent about half my income on rent and other housing-related expenses before taxes,” Bonsall said, “and I feel fortunate to be in a nice apartment that I can afford. A lot of people are in much more financial strain than I am.”

Bonsall explained that this trend of growing financial challenges for working class families has been ongoing, citing his own family, who he said would have been classified as ALICE.

“When I was growing up, my family, we had to move several times to find housing that we could afford… My parents both worked full time and had decent union jobs but the reality is — and this is not a problem just confined to Marquette — is that the real adjusted wages haven’t risen since the ’70s or early ’80s. Meanwhile the cost of living continues to go up and housing prices in the last year have been rising at an accelerated rate.”

So how does all of this this affect food insecurity? It means that the limited amount of remaining income after rent or mortgage payments, utility bills, medical expenses and other necessities must be stretched as far as it will go until the next pay period.

“A recent study released by CBS News shows that living what we normally define as a ‘middle-class lifestyle’ now costs 30% more for Americans than it did a decade ago,” John Zogby wrote in a Forbes article titled “Your Next-Door Neighbor May Have Food Insecurity.” “And missing food regularly is part of a tradeoff that growing numbers of Americans must decide in order to meet their mortgage payment and utilities bill — as well as dress their children, pay for gas and clothing.”

While Bonsall said his family was always able to remain food secure, he said increased inflation and costs of living have ripple effects that contribute to increased food insecurity among many in working-class families today.

Transportation was one barrier Bonsall mentioned, saying that many people he knows have been forced to move to the outskirts of the county to afford housing — putting them in food deserts, farther away from grocery stores. Furthermore, cooking is often needed to eat nutritious food affordably, but he said many in the working class lack the time to prepare healthy meals, a factor not often considered when discussing food insecurity.

“Oftentimes, we do see people with income constraints, (people) with children who are understandably having to fall back on cheaper options because of both budgetary and time constraints,” Bonsall said. “… If people are working two to three jobs to provide for their kids … how are they supposed to have time to plan out and make dinner every night? It’s something a lot of people struggle with.”

Having to prioritize high rent or mortgage payments and other bills often means that when grocery shopping, ALICE households may purchase more processed or packaged foods to stretch every dollar, as opposed to using the same allotted budget to purchase fewer raw, more nutritionally dense items, which run the risk of expiring more quickly.

While many in this category may not think of themselves as food insecure because they mastered stretching already-thin assets to their limits, the pandemic’s arrival proved detrimental to some.

“Market instability is especially difficult for ALICE households who lack financial resilience — the ability to bounce back after (a) financial crisis or hardship,” the 2021 ALICE report states. “Without adequate assets, families have little to no savings to withstand an unexpected expense or loss of employment and few opportunities to improve their situation.”

By understanding the position of the ALICE population, it becomes easier to see how the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and reduced work hours would introduce many in this category to new levels of food insecurity.

Furthermore, with the ALICE population dominating the work force, and many of their employers suffering shutdowns and reduced hours, this group suffered the consequences.

“Low-wage jobs dominate the employment landscape, with 61% of all jobs in Michigan paying less than $20 per hour,” the ALICE report states.

The impact of the pandemic was clear in the drastic rates of increased need among families who had never experienced food insecurity before and didn’t know where to go, as Molly Kooi, communications manager for Feeding America West Michigan, said in part one of this series.

As described in the ALICE report’s comparison between the FPL and the survival budget, many in the lower working class may need assistance now and again, but are just above the FPL or qualification guidelines for federal food assistance like SNAP.

For example, according to the Detroit Free Press, food assistance applicants must have an annual income of less than or equal to: $16,237 for a household of one, $21,983 for a household of two, $27,729 for a household of three, and $33,475 for a household of four.

Luckily, resources are available for those who have experienced this need–as a result of the pandemic or before– for food assistance that is not income-determined. For example, as Sara Johnson, market manager for the Downtown Marquette Farmer’s Market, mentioned in the first part of this series, it is often more affordable to shop at local farmers markets because they don’t have the same mark-up that chain grocery stores have. And Marquette-Alger Regional Educational Service Agency is present at the market with nutritional information, recipes and sometimes demonstrations to assist families in learning how to prepare fresh food and spread those meals out.

In addition, charitable organizations often have income qualifications that are more lenient or flexible than expected. The Emergency Food Assistance Program also offers USDA-supplied food through Community Action Alger Marquette to families and individuals with incomes up to 200% above the federal poverty level, which would incorporate many in the lower working class ALICE population.

TEFAP commodity food is available at many local pantries which partner with CAAM, including: St. Vincent de Paul pantries in Gwinn, Ishpeming, Marquette and Munising; the Salvation Army pantries in Marquette and Ishpeming; the Alger Community Food Pantry in Munising; and the Grand Marais First Lutheran Church. Feeding America’s trucks — the next of which will visit at 10 a.m. June 3 at the NorthIron Church in Ishpeming — does not require income verification for those who require emergency assistance.

While pride may be difficult to overcome for many in seeking assistance when they may have never needed it before, Maggi Haupt’s words of advice are again applicable: We must learn to ask for help when we need it — especially when there are many who need help and just as many ready to give it in our communities.