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this is an msnbc special report. food and the pandemic. recipe for disaster. here are joy reid and andrew zimmern. >> hello, everyone. and welcome. i'm joy reid and joining me for this special program is andrew zimmern. you know him as the host of msnbc's "what's eating america?" and we are joining forces to tell you about something that's gotten too little attention, as we have all suffered through the coronavirus pandemic over the past six months. and it is this. in our land of plenty, we are facing a food crisis. >> that's right, joy.

for many americans, food is something that's, too often, been taken for granted. we don't have that luxury, anymore. the virus has exposed some massive vulnerabilities in american life. the virus has not just dattacke people's health, it has shut down large parts of the economy, thrown millions out of work, crippled the restaurant industry, and disrupted the entire food-supply chain. >> and all of that has put many americans at greater risk. those who struggle to put food on the table before the pandemic or had a hard time finding fresh, healthy food. even many, who never had these problems before, are now facing a challenge you might have thought was not possible in this country. it is a challenge that cries out for our attention. and we'll be paying close attention to all of these issues, over the next hour. >> it -- it is shocking, joy, to think back that, april, when you and i first started talking about these matters on saturday

mornings, the issue was on the front page, above the fold, of every major newspaper. and in the a or b block of every news show. and then, it went underground for the last five or six months, despite the fact that the need has trebled and the crisis has worsened. >> well, now, what we're talking about are people in food lines. people are at the other end of the distribution spectrum, and having to stand in line waiting for food. and as we've said, some of whom, have never had to do that before because of the way the economy has gone. to say nothing of the restaurant industry and the troubles that are happening there. >> that's right. the ripple effects are everywhere. right now, i'm at the dark horse bar and eatery in st. paul, minnesota. it's just one of hundreds of restaurants barely holding on by a thread, here in the twin cities. this business devastated by two pandemics. the viral explosion of covid-19 and, also, the civil unrest that

began after the death of george floyd while in minneapolis police custody. owner patty walen has already had to close his well-known minneapolis restaurant, muddy waters. but even in communities where the protests weren't an economic factor, the pandemic has dramatical dramatically changed how we live every day, making getting together in large groups a matter of life and death. sporting events, concerts, movie theaters. all, have taken a hit. but none more so than the restaurant and food industry, which, pre-pandemic, was the second largest private employer in the country with more than 1 million workers, second only to the health care sector. gadi schwartz reports just how bad it really is. >> reporter: as the pandemic now enters its 7th month, unfortunately, we are getting

too used to seeing boarded up storefronts everywhere. and there is natural tendency for us to see this and think things must be bad here but they must be still good at the places they are still open. what we have found, across the board, whether they are open or closed, they are bleeding money and accumulating debt, every day. >> so you've got three restaurants? >> yeah. >> are any of them open? >> no. >> reporter: greg morris has been in the restaurant industry for nearly 30 years but today his barstools sit empty. his kitchens, quiet. forea whil for a while, he tried reopening but in los angeles, where only outdoor dining is allowed, he wasn't remotely close to being able to pay his rent. >> six feet apart. yeah. >> he tried takeout and delivery, but lost money there as well. >> i hate to ask but how much are you losing? >> in the last five months of closing, i've probably lost

somewhere around 4 million, 5 million in revenue. >> it's a big loss but even before the pandemic, when business was booming, profit margins for restaurants were razor thin. before covid, greg estimated that the normal, monthly sales for one of his restaurants would be about $160,000. after paying his employees, operating costs like food, taxes, insurance, and rent, he is only left with $5,000 of profit. now, if you factor in the reduced hours and seating capacity during covid, he figures a $21,000 a month loss. >> it's devastating. >> reporter: so like 12,000 other restaurant owners across the country, he's had to tell his employees that his only chance of surviving this is to temporarily shut down until covid-19 and its restrictions pass. sounds a lot like triage. >> it's exactly triage. you got to figure out what you can do to save yourself. what parts of your business are you going to have to amputate?

>> so many people right now are saying they're going to lose less money by staying closed than by opening. >> they're absolutely right. >> here in downtown los angeles, so many businesses rely on the staples center and the big events that are usually held here. but these days, it is depressingly empty. and nearby, this restaurant has almost ground to a halt. >> why reopen? >> our decision really came down to we have a couple of employees who are really at risk. they could not wait for unemployment to kick in and it was this job or the street for them. >> reporter: to keep a couple of her employees working to cover health insurance for her furloughed staff, she's pivoted to retail beer and wine sales and paired down the menu. >> both, surviving this pandemic. and then, also, really preparing ourselves for what the future of restaurants is going to look like. no matter who you are on the planet right now, the way that you interact with food, feed yourself, feed your family, stock your fridge, cook at home,

has just changed forever. >> for now, andrea and thousands of other restaurant owners across the country have been able to make ends meet because many have made the difficult decision to stop paying the rent. they have been able to do that, in part, because of eviction moratoriums and that's the same boat here at gorilla tacos. they are open for business, but they can't pay the rent. and the owner here, brittany, says she is in more debt, now, than she could have ever imagined. >> i'm going to just be superopen about it. we pay, for the entire building now, and you kneow we haven't paid for a while. so we're -- we're close to $200,000 and that's like various debts. >> and you're 27 years old. >> i know, right? what am i going to do? >> reporter: the federal paycheck protection program helped carry them through the summer. pushing congress to pass a $10 billion rescue package but even if that happens, no one expects things to go back to the way they were. and that leaves millions of

workers, like chef jamie lu, who's been out of work since march, facing an uncertain future. >> i look for a living. i don't have like $20,000 just sitting in some savings account. you know, so it's like me putting in the hours every week is like how i make a living. if i can't do that, then, kind of stuck. it's not like i can just run out and get another job. traditional like models of restaurants just don't work right now. >> reporter: for now, unemployment checks are helping and jamie's turned her home kitchen into a test kitchen for the online meal business she hopes to create. >> if none of this had happened, i probably would just be slaving away at a restaurant and too afraid to entertain the idea of becoming a business owner. like, honestly. so this kind of was like a really swift kick in the butt that i think i needed. >> reporter: a dose of reality and a dash of optimism as the restaurant industry wonders what it will take to survive. >> truly, my big concern is not while we're in this like intense lockdown pandemic state. it's after. because the recovery process is

going to be long. i'm going to owe a lot of money. >> i think that, in the decisions that i'm making right now, it's not just for the next three, four, five months of this pandemic. it's for the future of this restaurant, as a whole. >> it makes me sad because i think some of the things i really cherish in this business, like hiring more people, is going to change. it doesn't have the same magic. >> and i want to show you a scene that we have seen play out across the country when we are talking about restaurants trying to make ends meet by expanding out into the roads here. in kuculver city, you can see they're all the way out here into the street. even still, this is a place that would normally be packed. we have got one table over here. one table over here. people just aren't coming out to eat as often as they did before. and with that, obviously, you heard about that crippling debt that continues to grow. everyone we've spoken to in the restaurant industry says that, without a massive bailout, they're expecting things only to get worse.

guys, back to you. >> gadi, thanks. wow. and gadi's piece really highlights the resiliency and a spirit of survival. giving us hope that all is not lost, yet. joining us now is stephanie march. food and dining editor for minneapolis st. paul magazine. and katy button, a chef, member of the independent restaurant coalition, and ceo of the katy button restaurants group based out of asheville, north carolina. and both of you, thanks. thanks for being here. and, katy, i'll just start with you. what will new normal look like, do you think? >> well, i mean, we're currently open so we are kind of facing what new normal looks like now. and it -- new normal looks like not being able to break even and survive this pandemic. so it's -- it's pretty stark out there. i mean, a lot of us have received ppp funding and that's getting us through. it's making up the difference of

our losses, right now. but we're rapidly coming to the end of that money, and there's no way that we can make it. >> katie, how important, to you, is the -- the bailout that gadi suggested at the end of his piece? he is referring to the restaurants act that is now sitting on capitol hill. $120 billion backstopping of the restaurant industry. is that really the only solution, long-term, for the industry? >> yes. it is extremely important. this -- it's -- you know, it was crafted with the mindset of a restaurant business, and how we're being uniquely impacted in this time with our reduced occupancies. you know, sometimes, alcohol curfews. many people still aren't able to open for in-space deepinining. and our guests are being told,

frequently, not to go to bars and restaurants for their own safety. i mean, really, our industry will not survive if we do not get the restaurants act passed, now. >> and, stephanie, talk to us a little bit about, you know, there is a lot of fear out there. and i have, you know, friends in the -- in the restaurant business. and, you know, they even acknowledge that a lot of people are afraid to go out and eat, even if it is outdoors. what needs to happen in terms of bringing back customer confidence so that people can, people want to support these restaurants. these are restaurants of people that they know. they are part of these communities. how do you get back the confidence that people used to feel in eating out? >> you know, a lot of it has to do with just making sure that everybody is very communicative. you know, it's very -- you need to be upfront and i think restaurants, it's hard for them because they've kind of found themselves in a place where they have to sort of police people. and suddenly, polices that have always been about yes, yes, are

suddenly about no. well, you can only afford people at this table and we can't seat you over here and you must wear a mask when you come in. and so, i think there's an adjustment that has been sort of working within the industry. they want to provide the confidence that they are safe and they're going to create a safe environment. and they also have to figure out how to communicate and work with the guests that are coming in so that it's an agreement. >> you know, stephanie, that's -- that's the public, forward-facing view of this. but behind the scenes, restaurants have been extremely brittle financially for -- for going on decades, now. one of the big trends is -- that we are seeing -- is the rise of the discussion, again, about the tipping issues. whether they're going to go with service surcharges. whether they're going to go with some sort of other way in which to compensate employees. what are you hearing, here, in the twin cities? >> we're moving -- a lot of these people, restauranteurs, are moving toward the service charge in order to be able to, you know, really sort of pay

everybody in the restaurant. not just compensating the servers. and i feel like a lot of the guests, you know, as we have all seen them move toward supporting restaurants as a whole instead of, you know, during this time, they think let's help everybody out. so i feel like the service charge from a guest perspective is being really welcomed as a way to sort of give everybody an equal chance. >> katie, let's talk a little about the thing that needs to happen in order for restaurants act to pass. in order for money to get into the hands of businesses like yours who need it, is that the politics has to move. mark meadows who is now chief of staff to the president of the united states, used to be a congressman. and when he was in congress, he was a member of, a very prominent member, of the freedom caucus. and their sort of big touchstone was not spending federal money. is taking in as little as possible, and spending as little as possible. he's from your state. do you think that having seen what is happen what's happened to businesses like yours in his own community,

that is changing at all? or is the attitude? when you look at what senator mitch mcconnell is doing. what a lot of republicans are doing in congress is saying we don't want to spend, even if it it's to save these businesses. do you feel that changing on the ground? >> well, i have to say, and mark meadows is actually right from our area, in western north carolina. so i know him, pretty well. but anyway, the -- the -- the thing is, is that we -- what's happening right now is congress is debating what to do next. but it's taking too long. and we're in this moment, where it feels like they're waiting to see the damage that is done, before they're going to make a decision. and the problem with that is that we are facing a catastrophic-closure event for independent restaurants across the entire country. and what i'm saying, like right now, the ppp money, you are

seeing restaurants, like, operating as takeout. doing some dine-in. doing some outdoor dining. and it's giving people, the public, and our members of congress, a false sense of security that we're making it. and we're not. the numbers don't add up. and we need the funding to be able to continue to employ our workers, continue to pay our farmers. restaurants are an enormous economic engine. and when you give a dollar to a restaurant, 90 to 95% of every single dollar given to us goes right back out the door to our employees and our farmers and suppliers. and so, we are a way of dropping, you know, an economic, kind of, bolster to get us through this. and i really think that you think about what would happen if we don't give this money to restaurants now, and do it today, not tomorrow when we're closed. i mean, that's what's going to

help us all, as a country, get through this. >> indeed. well, hopefully, washington is listening. stephanie march. katie button. all the best to both of you. thank you so much for being here. we're going to take a quick break here. but we have a lot to get to. and when we come back, a look at how economic inequality means food inequality, made worse by the pandemic. and we'll meet someone who's doing something about it. and later, the country music legend who is doing what he can to feed his corner of america. ge cheeseburger on ciabatta, no tomatoes.. [hard a] tonight... i'll be eating four cheese tortellini with extra tomatoes. [full emphasis on the soft a] so its come to this? [doorbell chimes] thank you. [doorbell chimes] bravo. careful, hamill. daddy's not here to save you. oh i am my daddy.

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welcome back to food and the pandemic. the coronavirus does more than make people sick. it makes life harder, in other ways, too. especially, for people who are struggling even before the pandemic hit. and it's unlikely to improve anytime soon. amid news, this week, that the

latest covid relief bill has failed in congress. more often than not, that means communities of color, where access to fresh, high-quality, affordable food was difficult, to begin with. it's called food insecurity, and it affects 11% of households in this country. recently, i've spent some time with someone who's working hard to make these things better. i'd like you to meet karen washington. >> black dirt. it's nice. it's warm. you can see the organic matter in here. how -- it's just vibrant soil. >> the soil is where karen washington has found her calling. >> there's something about the power that you feel of farming. the element. there's something in here that makes you feel good about what you're doing. >> we recently visited washington, the godmother of urban farming, as some call her, at her rise and root farm in

chester, new york. >> to the left, we are growing a lot of our tomatoes. >> i see the tomatoes. those are good-looking tomatoes. >> yep. and they taste good, too. >> washington didn't set out to be a farmer but in 1985, this single mother of two bought her first home. a row house in the brn konx wit backyard. >> i decided moving to the bronx, had a backyard. let me try and go three things. t tomato is one. and eggplant because it sound funky. >> with nurturing with a lot of hard work, washington's first batch of tomatoes was, for her, a defining moment. >> when i bit into it, oh, my goodness, the ray of sunshine. it changed my world. then, i wanted to grow everything. >> and then, she did. turning a vacant lot across the street into a community garden. >> every week, she brings her produce to a farmers market in the south bronx where the need for healthy food is urgent. the usda has designated the

south bronx as a food desert. defined as a low-income area where people have to travel more than a mile to reach a supermarket. some 23 million americans live in food deserts. a disproportionate number of those americans are black. >> a lot of supermarkets don't want to come into low-income neighborhood. they have been told if you come to a low-income neighborhood, you're not going to make money. people are willing to pay for food. people are willing to pay for good food if you give them good food. >> you use the term food apartheid. >> that we need to talk about the influence of race, economics, and demographics. and start having those hard conversations around the food system. why is it, in the greatest country in the world where we grow enough food and we waste enough food, food is not getting down to the people that need it the most? >> washington said the food system is making people sick and vulnerable to the coronavirus. >> in this era where covid-19 is

disproportionately affecting black and brown, indigenous people, is there a connection between the food availability, the fresh-food availability, and this increased propensity to be afflicted by things like covid? >> this pandemic has brought to the surface some of the inequities that we see. most of the people, especially in my neighborhood, are bounded by a food system that is charity-based and subsidized-based. and what i mean is that a lot of the cheap food. the food that's not nutritious comes into our neighborhoods. right now, we have people have type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and end-stage renal diseases. all these things that affect our community. so what we need to do is how do we heal our bodies? we heal our bodies by eating fresh produce. >> and while a well-stocked supermarket could help fix the problem, washington believes the community can no longer afford to wait. >> so we see tay to that, you k what? forget about supermarkets coming into our neighborhoods. let's start opening up our own

stores that look like us because we know exactly what people want. >> we grow the best vegetables. >> to ensure this happens, washington has helped to create a black farmers fund to develop a new generation of black farmers. >> out of 57,000 farmers in new york state, only 139 are black. >> reporter: in fact, fewer than 2% of american farmers are black. down from a peak of 14%, in 1910. a decline blamed, in part, on discrimination and institutionalized racism. washington's black farmers fund will not only teach farming techniques but leadership skills, too. >> we're pulling all our resources, all our money together, so we can help the next generation of farmers and black businesses grow. and if we put our resources together and we put our money together, we can move mountains. and we can move this economy, without being beholden to it. >> reporter: with that momentum, karen washington is changing the

face of the american food industry to try and ensure that all americans have equal opportunity to eat healthy. >> for me, it's not about the labor, even though the labor's hard. but at the end of the day, to just sit back and say, you know, you did something to make the world a little bit better. >> wow. what a fantastic piece. you know, race and food intersect, absolutely, everywhere we look in america. from the -- the rise of the dollar stores that are exacerbating the lack of access to healthy, nutritious food. all the way to the racist notion that communities of color don't know how to eat well. so many things that karen talked about in that piece were identifying so many of the problems, as well as solutions. did you get a sense, from her, that she's hopeful, now, that this -- this moment in time, we -- we actually might make some progress? >> well, you know, karen is a remarkable person. i know, and it's four women. it's not just karen but there

are four women who are in this endeavor, trying to sort of bring farming to the average person. she's hopeful, in the sense that she knows she's doing something about it. right? i mean, she talks about food apartheid, which goes all the way back to the idea that black people were brought here to do all the farming. and yet, own almost no land to farm on. own almost none of the land from which our food is created. so she is trying to change that by creating more opportunities for black people to get back into farming. to allow black people to have ownership and not just be workers but be openers, awners. and to be producing the food for black communities and solve the problems she says supermarkets can't solve. she's active and she is doing something about it and she is a remarkable person. and what they're doing on that farm is incredible. >> she -- she is one of my heroes. and the 400-year-old issue of slavery still plaguing us today.

it needs to be a front and center pivotal idea that all americans understand. what a great piece. up next. our medical experts on how poor nutrition, which we've now seen, affects a disproportionate amount of people of color makes it even worse when a pandemic strikes. andemic strikes. it sure can. really? can it one up breakfast in bed? yeah, for sure. thanks, boys. what about that? uhh, yep! it can? yeah, even that! i would very much like to see that. me too. introducing tide power pods. one up the toughest stains with 50% more cleaning power than liquid detergent. any further questions? uh uh! nope! one up the power of liquid with tide power pods.

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covid affects communities of color, and it starts with the inequities in the food eaten by those communities. joining us now, medical director of the special pathogens unit at boston medical center and global health security expert. she is also an msnbc medical contributor. and gregory gottlieb, director of the feinstein international center at tufts school of science and policy. and professor of nutrition security. >> i want to start with you. can you just talk about the ways in which -- i mean, we see communities of color, particularly black and brown and indigenous communities, facing a higher covid death rate. we also hear this anecdotal, you know, well, if people have diabetes or people have hypertension, that's the reason it's more deadly for communities of color. but can you draw a link between those two facts, and the food

that's available, particularly to low-income communities of color? >> thanks so much, joy. so, you know, you have this statistic from the cdc that says 94% of the people who died of covid-19 have a medical condition. you know, what often doesn't get mentioned is how many americans have medical conditions that put them at high risk for severe covid-19. 40% of americans are obese. one out of ten have diabetes. 30% have hypertension. all of those aspects, greater intensity, with communities of color and socially-disadvantaged and economically-disadvantaged communities, partly because of the lack of access to good food. partly, because inability to access health care with the same level of, you know, accessibility, structural racism in our health care system, as well as the risk that they are placed into due to the position they are in at work, potentially at essential workers, frontline workers. the link between obesity and

hypertension. what we have seen in obesity is obesity is a chronic state of inflammation. that and diabetes, both, are thought to change the way our body and immune system respond to an infection. >> i have a question for -- for both of you. if you could -- if you could address it. it seems, to me, that, like so many other things, covid-19 has just peeled back more of the problem and, certainly, in the case of actual comorbidities made things worse for people with covid. but we're spending a trillion and a half, maybe more, dollars a year fighting the big four food diseases. how is it that we can actually make some progress there? so that, the next disease roll around, the next pandemic, we actually make america healthier? >> so, part of what pandemics do is they affect all aspects of food production, distribution, accessibility. and we've already talked about the urnderlying risk, right? here, what's happening is a lot

of the food production workers are people of color, people who come from socially disadvantaged communities. so every -- everybody from groups, such as migrant farm workers, to grocery workers, to strau restaurant workers. those frontline workers during this pandemic have been placed at a greater risk. so one of the sta tibt itistics sort of blew me away is one that said in the first 100 days of this pandemic, you basically had 11.5 grocery workers get sick from covid-19. >> can i just follow up a question, as you are a nutritionist as my mother was so i respect, very much, what you do for a living. talk to me to the people who are getting their food, now, not from the store but from food banks. people are having to make choices not from what they would like to buy but from what they are able to get. is it possible to eat in a way that is healthy enough to try to guard against covid, when you are not eating by choice? >> i -- i think it's very

difficult for a lot of families to do that. first of all, i think families have to know. they have to be aware what good nutrition is. and which products provide them with the right balance. and -- and it's -- i think that's the important concept that we have to get across. at least from my school, you know, there is a lot of education that goes into what makes a really good and balanced diet for folks. and i think that would be a big part of it. the -- the fact that people have to go and get food in a place where they don't have the broadest of choices is really problematic. and will take, i think, on our part, a lot of education. >> absolutely. it is a complex problem. doctor, gregory gottlieb, thank you both very much. and when we come back, the shocking scenes become all too familiar now because of covid. americans, by the hundreds of thousands, as we just discussed, waiting in line to get food. did you know you can go to libertymutual.com

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america has long seen itself as a land of plenty. a place where no one need go hungry. a chicken in every pot. depression-era, black and white memories of bread lines and soup kitchens were a thing of the past. but thafrnks to the pandemic, w are now seeing a 21st century version of hardship with millions of people out of work and in need of help just to put food on the table. many, for the first time in their lives. >> in a minute, we are going to see what everyday americans are doing to help. and hear from country superstar, brad paisley, about his efforts to create a free grocery store in nashville. >> there is some relief for those suffering from this side effect of the pandemic. food banks across the country benefitting from a surplus of supply that would have gone to restaurants, now shut down. but the question remains whether

they can keep up with the new demand. it's a day they will never forget. the san antonio food bank was expecting a big turnout. especially, since the pandemic had tripled unemployment here. but by daybreak, michael and his staff realized they had awakened to a nightmare. >> cars started lining up the morning before. so they'd been there 18 hours, 12 hours. and then, they sat in line. they sat in line. cars were breaking down. cars were running out of gas. >> reporter: each car, a family in need. >> your heart stops. >> they're there because they're hungry. they're there because they don't have work and they don't have food. >> reporter: it was april 9th. on the christian calendar, that's holy thursday, marking the last supper. at the san antonio food bank, it's also remembered as a day

from hell, as temperatures soared. >> by the afternoon shift, volunteers were dropping. literally, ambulances were coming because of people having heat exhaustion. >> reporter: food bank president, eric cooper. >> i saw the line, backed up on the freeway. and i drove for mile and mile and mile and the line was just -- i wasn't hitting the end of it. and so, i panicked. >> reporter: more than 10,000 ca cars went through. this was the richest nation on earth and it was shocking. >> we're a hard-working, poor economy. multijob, uninsured, just hard working, right on the edge. but making it. i mean, just surviving and making it, without help. covid-19 pushed those families that were on the edge, over that edge. >> reporter: to try to stay ahead of demand, the san antonio food bank has its own small farms.

all summer, volunteers were out in the fields planting. soon, these crops will feed another line of families. >> god bless them and their families. >> reporter: but the need here is actually greater than ever. on our visit, with the temperature over 100 degrees in the shade, the line crawled along for hours. and then, from out of nowhere, here comes a 75-year-old woman on her walker from the bus stop. and she just wanted a little food. that shows the desperation. and it is people of -- of every color, every gender. it's the diverse rainbow of san antonio. >> reporter: one possible reason for the desperate situation. the cutoff of half of the $600 extra unemployment benefit and congress is still deadlocked on what to do next. 125,000 more residents are now being served each month. most of them, first-time

recipients. >> i've never done it. i worked and i don't have a job anymore. >> well, this is a blessing and i'm glad to -- i'm glad to be part of it. >> reporter: the pandemic has severely damaged san antonio's economy. especially, hotels, restaurants, and bars. >> the hospitality and tourism industry here has been decimated. hotels, empty. river walk, zero. conventions, gone. >> reporter: among the first-time recipients we met at the food bank was a mother of five. michelle abraham, who works two minimum-wage jobs. she is struggling to feed the seven members of her family. her sons lost their restaurant jobs due to the pandemic. and now, she is the only one working. after rent and her other bills, michelle has only $70 a week to feed them all. >> it's hard. i mean, it's really hard. >> reporter: she recently broke down, she says, crying in the shower. worried how she could possibly make it. she is one of thousands, here, who never thought they'd ask for

help. not in a million years. >> oh, no, never, because i've always worked. i've always tooken care of my family, by myself. and we've always made it. >> reporter: a survey of young mothers this spring found that some 14 million american children were not getting enough to eat. and the san antonio food bank estimates one in three children here are undernourished. michelle abraham's 6-year-old son, jax, is blissfully unaware how tough it was for his mom to get him his healthy treats. >> remember, the other day when i honked for everybody to come in and we had all those cherries and the pineapple and the mango and stuff? that i told you i went to the food bank. >> yeah. >> reporter: at the san antonio food bank, they have a 360-degree holistic approach to bring people hope. they give guidance on all-available forms of help. from food stamps to women's and infants programs to work. and in a program utilizing an app called shift smart,

unemployed workers, like hearth heather martinez, can now get paid $15 an hour to work here. they are filling in for many of the volunteers who are older and at risk for covid-19. martinez used to work at a restaurant, and now runs the distribution line here. she says the program has been a lifesaver. >> we're able to not only get paid but they're giving us a steady income, now, during this time of not having any jobs or anything like that. >> reporter: the food bank is also training people who need jobs. mack richardson is a homeless veteran who is taking classes in the food bank's culinary arts program, and volunteering to feed others. recently, a box of bananas was given to michelle abraham and she got back to us with a video of her mom making banana nut bread they would not have been

able to buy. it was just a small treat. a little gift of food but more. >> something like this is -- it's awesome. it'll bring a lot of people, a lot of families, not just the food, itself, but hope, a blessing, and some peace. >> that's -- that's such a staggering story to see, joy. and i think what -- what impresses me the most was that, you know, five, six months ago, the -- the picture of the line, the aerial picture of the san antonio food bank, was the one that was on the front page of the "new york times" and -- and on every news tps cacast in ame. and the problem has only gotten worse. it grabbed america's tension, then. and i'm praying that it grabs america's attention, now. >> absolutely. i mean, the one piece of good news is that, you know, this country, and you and i have talked about this, andrew, has

so much food waste. you know, we have enough food waste to feed a smaller country, right? and so, what we are seeing now is this cooperation to make sure that food is not thrown away, which is a sin. and to see it actually going to feed people. it's a massive effort. it needs to be bigger and, as you said, it needs to talked about a lot more often. that was a great package. and meanwhile, as food banks, nationwide, struggle to keep up with those longer lines, celebrities are stepping up to help. country superstar, brad paisley, and his wife, actress kimberly williams paisley, have opened the store in their hometown of nashville, tennessee. its concept is simple. offer free, fresh food to area residents, including home delivery to the elderly. and i had the chance to speak with brad about it. >> we really were early on this. i mean, three years ago, we started working on this concept. never imagining that we would be ready, just in time for the worst crisis of our lifetime.

it's truly, sort of, divine. we got the inspiration from a place in santa barbara called unity shop. and their model was this. it was basically a free grocery store for people that fall on hard times. they should be able to go through our -- our store.store, dignity that comes with the choice. you have choice in the food that you pick. you are able to have a shopping experience that your children feel like is very normal, and they're not aware that at the end of your sort of shopping, you don't pay for anything. the kids -- you know, there's a checkout counter. there's a little mechanical horse. it's a very dignified experience, and it helps the parents get back on their feet. and the goal of this also is that they go through the system, through this hard time, and then they graduate out of it. they find a job. they end up in a better situation, and we've seen that happen with the one we based this on. and already we are -- the need has been five times what we expected. >> yeah.

you know, i finally got a chance to be in nashville last year for the first time. it's such an incredible city, you know. and one of the things that -- the first thing people think about obviously, and your fans obviously that are watching this, think about music, think about all of the incredible entertainers that are there, the incredible spirit of nashville. can you talk a little bit about where all of these needs are coming from because i know musicians are having a really hard time right now. independent musicians are having a hard time right now. people who are involved in that industry, restaurants. there's like these cycles that are really hitting so hard. are you seeing more people from those communities that are using places like the store and having to really for the first time? >> well, nashville is in pain. i mean my industry has been hit harder than anything i can imagine. i mean just the fact that we are not able to play concerts of almost any size, it -- for a while, we couldn't record. there are so many out of work musicians that aren't doing anything. we're serving some of them, but

largely our clientele so far, we have a very high percentage of minority clients, large african-american clientele. but i do think that the music business is -- you know, they're kind of hanging on tooth and nail right now. people that were employed, but we're all starting to sweat. like when is the next concert? when's the next tour? there are people that do lighting, people that do video work out on the road. there are people that do truck driving, bus driving, everything. i mean you name it, roadies. they're all out of work. so we are serving some of them, but, yeah, i mean it's just -- the need's rising every day. >> yeah, absolutely. i know that, you know, i think we all kind of held our breath when the c.a.r.e.s. act expired in july. i know a lot of restaurant owners that are struggling, and this is in new york, a much bigger sort of market where they're able to kind of hang on.

but i'm sure things are really, really tough in nashville as well. i know you guys saw a 20% increase in demand. nearly nine in ten of the families that are being helped are people who are unemployed. what would you like to see done at the federal level that would really help the people in nashville, the people that you're serving? >> i look back and i think what would have been an amazing thing would have been to sort of identify the businesses that are -- that are dependent on gatherings. like when you think about the music business, we are dependent -- most of our livelihood in our town is dependent on the ability of people to get together and listen to music. otherwise, there are 40 or 50 people on any given tour that don't get to go to work. so it would have been an amazing thing to have some sort of stimulus that really sort of injects right into things like, you know, theaters and movie theaters and music venues and

touring companies and, heck, theme parks, you name it. something that sort of strategically targets these things that could get us as a stopgap to the day when we're able to sort of say, okay, this amount of people are okay. let's go play. >> yeah. brad paisley, you're a good guy. i know your fans are eager to see you hopefully in a show. hopefully that will happen soon. thank you and your wife kimberly. god bless y'all for what you're doing. >> thank you for having us on to talk about this. it really means a lot. coming up, our salute to unsung food workers on the front lines of the pandemic. the unmistakable lexus is. get zero percent financing on the 2020 is 300. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. little things can become your big moment.

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tonight, i'll be eating a veggie cheeseburger on ciabatta, no tomatoes.. [hard a] tonight... i'll be eating four cheese tortellini with extra tomatoes. [full emphasis on the soft a] so its come to this? [doorbell chimes] thank you. [doorbell chimes] bravo. careful, hamill. daddy's not here to save you. oh i am my daddy. wait, what? what are you talking about?

welcome back. we've talked a lot this hour about the most vulnerable americans struggling to stay afloat due to the pandemic. but for every story of

desperation, there are stories that give us hope, like those choosing to use their time to help nourish others in need. whether it's feeding restaurant employees who have lost their jobs, kids who depend on school lunches, or the vulnerable who can't leave their homes, food workers are another critical group on the front lines fighting this disease. essential workers consistently taken for granted and undervalued. >> it was here through the industry that everyone was losing their jobs. we started a meal program here. we just grew just out of control. the restaurant workers, they didn't know where their next meal was coming from kind of relied on us. >> we decided to flip homestead into a food bank for anyone that needed it. we partnered with world central kitchen, and we kind of had to keep evolving both to help the community and to help our staff, but also just to help the business survive this year. >> there was this incredible

group of industrious volunteers that showed up just eager to do something, to see all of these beautiful meals come out of our kitchen, which had basically been vacant, and then it was this hive of activity, was incredibly nourishing. >> the snowball effect was wonderful. people heard about the donations and that we were feeding essential workers. >> to show up to the pharmacies or the hospital or the nursing home with food and smiles on our faces coming from complete strangers, well, that's what kailua and hawaii is really all about. >> allowing us to help the community to be able to get a meal, something to eat. we definitely bring you the essentials straight to your door. >> there's many families out there that are struggling because they've been laid off from their job, and they really appreciate the support that we're giving them.

>> it's important to nourish others in need because we're one phone call away from being in the same position as they are. it's no fault of their own that they're on these food lines. >> we are still able to serve. we are still able to make someone's day. we are still able to provide quality food to those in need. it has been a privilege to be a part of the community that needs us most right now. >> and to learn more about how you can help, here are two places to check out. feeding america, which supports a network of food banks across the country. and the independent restaurant coalition. >> andrew, the reason i love doing specials and talking with you is you're about solutions, man, and i'm really glad that we ended this hour with something that people can actually do because i think that's what people want. so thank you very much. on behalf of andrew and me, thank you for spending this hour