Yourself, feed your family, stock your fridge, cook at home, has just changed forever. This is an msnbc special report, food and the pandemic recipe for disaster. Here are joy reid and andrew zimmern. Hello, everyone, and welcome. Im joy reid. Joining me for this special program is andrew zimmern. You know him as the host of msnbcs whats eating america. And we are joining forces to tell you about something thats gotting too little attention as weve 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. Thats right, joy. For Many Americans, food is something thats too often been taken for granted. We dont have that luxury anymore. The virus has exposed some massive vulnerabilities in american life. The virus has not just attacked peoples 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 well be paying close attention to all of these issues over the next hour. 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 the need has trebled and the crisis has worsened. Now, what were talking about are people in food lines, people who are at the other end of the distribution spectrum and having to stand in line waiting for food and as weve 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. Thats right. The ripple effects are everywhere. Right now, im at the darkhorse bar and eatery in st. Paul, minnesota. Its 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 covid19 and also the civil unrest that began after the death of george floyd while in Minneapolis Police custody. Owner, patty whalen, has already had to close his wellknown minneapolis restaurant, muddy waters, but even in communities where the protests werent an economic factor, the pandemic has 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 service which prepandemic was the second largest private employer in the country with more than 15 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 seventh month, unfortunately, we are getting way too used to seeing boarded up storefronts and restaurants everywhere. And theres a natural tendency for us to see these boarded up storefronts, boarded up restaurants and think, things must be bad here but they must be good at the places that are still open. What we have found is across the board, whether they are open or closed, they are bleeding money and accumulating debt every day. So youve got three restaurants. Yeah. Reporter are any of them open . No. Reporter greg morris has been in the Restaurant Industry for nearly 30 years. Today, his barstools sit empty, his kitchens quiet. For a whil he tried reopening but in los angeles where only Outdoor Dining is allowed there wasnt enough room to come even remotely close to paying his rent. Youre talking about four different tables right here. Yeah, six feet apart. Reporter thats it. Yeah. Reporter 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 probably lost somewhere around 4 million, 5 million in revenue. Reporter its a big loss but even before the pandemic when business was booming, Profit Margins for restaurants were razor thin. Before covid greg estimated 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, hes only left with 5,000 of profit. Factor in the reduced hours and Seating Capacity during covid, he figures a 21,000 a month loss. Its devastating. Reporter so like 12,000 other Restaurant Owners across the country, hes had to tell his employees his only chance of surviving this is to temporarily shut down until covid19 and its restrictions pass. Soun sounds a lot like triage. It is exactly triage. You got to figure out what you can do to save yourselves what parts of your business are you going to have to amputate. Reporter so many people right now are saying theyre going to lose less money by staying closed than by opening. Why theyre absolutely right. Reporter yeah. Here in downtown los angeles, so many businesses rely on the Staple Center and the big events that are usually held here but these days it is depressingly empty. Nearby, drayas restaurant has almost ground to a halt. Why reopen . Yeah, you know, 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 so keep a couple of her employees working and Cover Health Insurance for her furloughed staff, shes pivoted to retail beer and wine sales and pared down the menu. Both surviving this pandemic 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. Reporter 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. Taif be theyve been able to do that in part because of eviction moratoriums. Thats the same here at gorilla tacos. They are open for business but they cant pay the rent and the owner here, brittany vie yez, says shes in more debt now than she could have ever imagined. Im going be super open about it. We pay for the entire building now. You know, we havent paid for a while. So were close to 200,000. Thats, like i various debts. Reporter youre 27 years of i know, what am i going to do . Reporter the federal Paycheck Protection Program helped carry them through this summer but that money is due to run out. Thousands of restaurateurs are pushing congress to pass a 120 billion rescue package but even if that happens no one expects things to go back to the way they were. That leaves millions of workers like chef jamie lou who has been out of work since march facing an uncertain future. I cook for a living. I dont have, like, 20,000 just sitting in some savings account, you know . So its, like, me putting in the hours every week is how i make a living. If i cant do that, then kind of stuck. Its not like i can just run out and just get another job. Traditional, like, models of restaurants just dont work right now. Reporter for now, unemployment checks are helping, and jamies turned her ohome 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 were in this, like, intense lockdown pandemic state, its after because the Recovery Process is going to be long. Im going to owe a lot of money. I think that in the decisions that im making right now, its not just for the next three, four, five, months of this pandemic. Its for the future of this restaurant as a whole. Makes me sad because i think some of the things that i really cherish in this business, like hiring more people, is going to change. It doesnt have the same magic. Reporter and i want to show you a scene that weve seen play out across the country when were talking about restaurants trying to make ends meet by expandi expanding. Out into the roads here in culver city, you can see theyre all the way out ehere into the street. Even still, this is a place that would be normally packed. We got one table over here, we got one table over here. People just arent 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 weve spoken to in the restaurant cities says that without a massive bailout, theyre expecting things only to get worse. Guys, back to you. Gadi, thanks. Wow. And gadis piece really highlights the resiliency and 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 katie button, a chef, member of the independent Restaurant Coalition and ceo of the katie button Restaurants Group based out of asheville, north carolina. And both of you, thanks for being here. Katie, ill just start with you. What will new normal look like, do you think . Well, i mean, were currently open so were kind of facing what new normal looks like now and new normal looks like not being able to break even and survive this pandemic. So its pretty stark out there. I mean, a lot of us have received ppp funding and thats getting us through. Its making up the difference of our losses right now, but were rapidly coming to the end of that money and theres no way that we can make it. Katie, how important, to you, is the bailout that gadi suggested at the end of his piece . Hes 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. It was crafted with the mindset of a Restaurant Business and how were being uniquely impacted in this time with our reduced occupancies, you know, sometimes alcohol curfews, many people still arent able to open for inspace dining 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. Step little bit about theres a lot of fear out there. I have friends in the Restaurant Business. They even acknowledge that a lot of people are afraid to go out and eat, even if it is out dodo. With what needs to happen in terms of bringing back Customer Confidence so people can people want to support these restaurants. Tea these are restaurants of people they know, theyre part of these communities. How do you get back the confidence that people used to teal feel in eating out . A lot of it has to do with just making sure that everybody is very communicatetive. You need two upfront. Restaurants, its hard for them because they kind of found themselves in a place where they have to police people. Suddenly places that the have always been about yes, yes, are suddenly about no, you can only afford people at this tables we cant seat you over here and you must wear a mask when you come in. I think theres an adjustment sort of working within the industry. They want to provide that confidence that day are safe and theyre going to create a safe environment and also have to figure out how to communicate and work with the guests who are coming in so its an agreement. Stephanie, thats the public forwardfacing piece of this, but behind the scenes restaurants have been extremely brittle financially for going on decades now. One of the big trends is that were seeing is the rise of the discussion, again, about the tipping issues. Whether theyre going to go with service surcharges, whether theyre going to go with some sort of other way in which to compensate employees. Uhhuh. What are you hearing here in the twin cities . Were movinge ining a lot these people are moving toward the restaurateurs are moving toward the Service Charge to be able to sort of pay everybody in the restaurant, not just compensating the servers. I feel like a lot of the guests have really sort of you know, as weve all seen them move forwa toward supporting restaurants as a whole instead of during this time, they think lets help everybody out. I feel like the service carriage from charge from a guest perspective is really welcome ads a way to give everybody an equal change. Katie, 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, the politics has to move. Mark meadows, whos now chief of staff to president of the united states, used to be in congress. When he was in congress he was a prominent member of the Freedom Caucus and their sort of big touchstone was not spending federal money, taking in as little as possible and spending as little as possible. Hes from your state. Do you think that having seen whats happened to businesses like yours in his own community that that is changing at all or is the attitude because it does, i think, feel to a lot of people when you look at what senator Mitch Mcconnell is doing, what a lot of republicans are doing in congress, is saying we dont want to spend even if its 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 their, Western North carolina, so i know him pretty well, but, anyway, the thing is that we whats happening right now is congress is debating what to do next, but its taking too long. And were in this moment where it feels like theyre waiting to see the damage that is done before theyre going to make a decision, and the problem with that is we are facing a catastrophic closure event for independent restaurants across the entire country and what im saying, like, right now, the ppp money, youre seeing restaurants, like, operating as takeout, doing some dinein, doing some Outdoor Dining and its giving people, the public, and our members of congress a false sense of security that were making it and were not. The numbers dont 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 yeah. 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 dont give this money to restaurants now, and do it today, not tomorrow when were closed, i mean, thats whats 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. Were going to take a quick break here. 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 well meet someone whos doing something about it. And later, the Country Music legend whos doing what he can to feed his corner of america. Adventure. To reconnect and be together. And once we did that, we realized his greatest adventure is just beginning. avo male welcome to the most adventurous outback ever. The allnew 2020 Subaru Outback. 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