ABOUT family meal
The idea that sparked the creation of Family Meal was a simple one: bring the community together over food and drink to raise money for food and agricultural workers in crisis.
Launched in November 2019, Family Meal provides financial relief grants to Oregon’s food service and agricultural workers in medical crises. In the restaurant industry, a “family meal” is a time when the team eats together. This idea of community is our foundation.
It’s amazing how many people it takes to make a dining experience possible. Farmworkers and prep cooks, chefs and dishwashers, servers and bussers, and countless others—each one is responsible for creating the experience. It’s also amazing that a significant number of these workers are uninsured or underinsured.
“Almost 90% of all workers surveyed reported not receiving health insurance through their employers. Workers without health insurance were three times as likely to visit the emergency room without being able to pay as their counterparts with health insurance.”
THE CHALLENGE WE FACE
The idea that a healthy society is based on healthy individuals informs the Family Meal mission. The reality is that food industries operate with fragile margins, which means offering employer-sponsored benefits like health insurance isn’t an option for many small businesses. Many employees that do receive employer-sponsored health insurance, often find plans that carry high premiums or high deductible costs, effectively leaving employees underinsured–meaning whatever coverage they have is not providing adequate protection from high medical expenses.
This places many of our community members at financial risk during a medical crisis. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll found that roughly a quarter of insured adults reported difficulty paying their deductible (34 percent) or the cost of their monthly premiums (28 percent). The trends correspond to the rising costs of deductibles, premiums, and other types of cost-sharing in the employer-sponsored insurance market, which is outpacing the slower income growth rate. This creates a perfect storm that many are unable to weather.
“Holly Edwards, a McDonald’s manager... fell behind on payments for her 4-year-old’s $2,242 emergency room visit... “It’s not that we’re choosing not to pay, but there are other bills,” said Ms. Edwards, 43. “My daughter has to eat, and if it’s choosing between that or paying a doctor bill, I’m going to choose her.””
“…And the plans they can afford are high deductibles, meaning low wage workers could still not afford a physician when they are sick.”
COVID-19 PANDEMIC RESPONSE
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Family Meal created a second temporary relief grant program assisting foodservice and agricultural workers facing financial hardship due to pandemic-related work displacement. That program has now ended, and our efforts remain focused on supporting individuals in medical crises.
From team Family Meal, thank you for your support!
References: Serving While Sick, Lorri Mealey, Sarah Kliff