The Voice of Skyline College, San Bruno, Calif.
The SKYLINE View September 29, 2022
theskylineview.com
Issue 1
Grocery workers struggle to afford food amidst inflated prices
By Anoush Torounian
Former Focal Point Editor
How can I choose between food and toilet paper? Single mom Marcela Rodriguez has been faced with that ongoing question. “Because I’m a part-time student, I’m working only 20 hours … I’m sacrificing getting a full time job or getting paid higher for my education,” Rodriguez said. “[To pay for food], we have to cut off a bunch of things like going out, activities, or basic things such as detergent, or even toilet paper.” Rodriguez is just one of many people who are surrounded by groceries at work, and yet struggling to keep up with the rising cost of food. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is a labor union representing 1.3 million workers. In January 2022, they conducted a study revealing that over 75% of workers at Kroger, the largest full service grocery chain in the country, are food insecure. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines insecurity as a lack of consistent
gone up so much.” The USDA released findings that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of economy-wide inflation, increased 9.4 percent between April 2021 and April 2022 for food prices. As a result, people like Matzke and Rodriguez are dramatically shifting their spending habits. “My grocery bill has almost doubled since the pandemic,” Matzke said. “I used to have steak or hamburger like three times a week, and now I might have once every other week because prices have increased since the pandemic.” Like Matzke, Rodriguez has sacrificed her sense of normalcy for the sake of saving money. Rodriguez used to supplement food Steven Rissotto/Skyline View she received from the pantry with food she bought at the store. access to enough food for an “Right now, because the gas prices are pretty expensive, we are just SparkPoint, food insecurity eating what we received from the would further victimize food pantry, which is chicken,” Rodiguez, her son and other Rodriguez said. “What we receive participants. “[SparkPoint has] is unpredictable. My weekly meal been helping me big time depends on what I received. I mean, because I save money every week it’s not bad. You just need to adjust as a participant,” Rodriguez said. and adapt to what is served.” “So every week, we receive like Her family does not eat out much, three or four bags of full groceries but when they do, they adhere to a such as dry food or produce, fruit strict budget. and vegetables. They carry items “The last time we went out was like milk, cheese, chicken, and fish. for my mother’s birthday,” said It’s a big variety. So on average, I Rodriguez. “We went to a buffet in personally save an average of $90 South San Francisco; you pay like per week.” $12, and it’s all you can eat. We Jason Matzke is a produce clerk don’t eat out very often because I’m that has been working at Safeway trying to save money with my son. for 22 years and has 9 years left to Every penny that I receive is just retire. Inflated prices have just to save up, either to pay significantly decreased his steady rent or just to pay bills and to access to nutritious food. Before the move forward.” pandemic, he would reach for a For Rodriguez, a lack of access to steak and veggie meal for dinner. maintaining good health. Just last week, Matzke had to skip “Sometimes when we haven’t two meals due to the cost of food. eaten for a long period of time, like “I ended up getting pasta because more than six or seven hours, I feel the carbohydrates will last a couple super dizzy,” Rodriguez said. I feel of days as energy,” said Matzke. weak the entire day: headache, a lack “The grocery prices are so high, of concentration, and I cannot especially the cost of protein has
like organic foods and better quality
when you go to bed without a happy belly. I’ve been struggling with that. But thank God we have these services at Skyline College.” Service is paramount to Matzke’s roommate, Tygarjas Twyrls Bigstyck, a Pacifica City Council person and Mayor Pro Tempore. Bigstyck stepped out of his management position at Safeway when he accepted a role on the council, and he is now a checker. He observes a culture of neglecting nutrition to due cost among his grocery store coworkers. “I’ve certainly seen a lot of my co-workers for the sake of convenience to go to a McDonald’s or a Subway to just quickly get something low cost to eat even though it’s not very nutritious, and then get back to work,” said Bigstyck. A solution to food insecurity that arises time and time again is for companies to offer a living wage, the minimum income necessary to meet basic needs, to all workers. However, some companies have resisted cutting into their profit margins for the sake of their employees. “[For] most of my coworkers, fighting for a living wage seems to be a recurring theme,” Bigstyck said. “To my company’s credit, we were recently given a pay bump through contract negotiations. They weren’t the easiest contract negotiations to get.” Inadequate funds often pigeonholes individuals into selecting cheap and unhealthy options, or worse still, skipping meals. With more funds, opportunities arise to select food that fuels the body and supports nutrition. “In general, if we’re paid more, we are able to make better choices in today’s world in which people are becoming more aware of things
After 2 years, where is Skyline now? The Online vs. In-Person College Experience Opinions vary on which format works best based on student needs By Kathia Noriega and Sean Siapno Sports Editor and Features Editor
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected schools all over the world. For the last two years, schools have adjusted to an online alternative for their classes. Skyline College experienced this switch but has now transitioned back to offering in-person courses. Online classes are still made available. However, students must now choose whether to go back on campus, stay virtual, or experience the best of both worlds. With the last two semesters being a mix of both inperson and online, what were Skyline students’ experiences with their courses? Ali Nazari is a sophomore who took a break from college back in 2020 because he preferred in-person classes rather than virtual learning. He explains that online courses had a lot of issues such as audio, Zoom trolls, and Wi-Fi connection. “I learned better with inperson classes, everything is more clear, and I can pay
A student uses a computer on campus.
Graham Breitbarth/Skyline View
attention better.” He knows that he works and learns better in a classroom environment, so he decided to take some time off school until in-person classes were available again. Nonetheless, virtual learning has been recognized as convenient and more accessible for students to stay at home and go at their own pace. Moreover, it allows students to do their schoolwork
whenever and wherever they want. Llana Marquez, a third-year allied health student, has experience in both the online and on-campus settings. Through these courses, she’s established that she prefers online over in-person as it’s easier and suits her learning style the best. “It was easy, I’m kind of introverted, I preferred online beneficial.” While she favors online classes, she’s also enrolled in some inperson ones.
However, these are core courses and were only available in
take the virtual route for these classes. Students notice the difference between online courses compared to in person classes. While both have their advantages, the biggest difference would probably be the community aspect of the school. Most students find it easier to create a bond with their classmates when they are face-toface. While Tyler Kuwada is a freshman at Skyline, he has had the chance to compare the differences between online and in-person classes. “I am able to see people face-toface; you don’t interact with people online.” He values the in-person setting a lot more because it makes connecting and becoming friends with classmates easier than being isolated at home. The switch to online school has definitely impacted students; however, Skyline College staff also faced the challenge of adjusting to the virtual environment. Skyline’s College staff also faced the challenge of adjusting to the virtual environment. Skyline’s very own Gavin Townsley and
foods,” Bigstyck said. Another avenue that grocery retailers could implement to protect workers from food insecurity is company discounts on their products. Matzke described Safeway’s employee benefits: 5% off national brand products and 10% off company products. However, in light of inflated prices, he suggests increasing the discount to 15%. Matzke and Bigstyck’s roommate once worked at Safeway but has since switched jobs due to personal discrepancies with the company. “At Taco Bell, he’s really struggling,” Matzke said. “Taco Bell pays $15 an hour, and that’s it. He’s working 30 hours a week, and he’s in a position that he can’t really pick up another job. So, he is trying to get food stamps now.” Ultimately, for many parts of the Bay Area, food insecurity unfortunately comes with the territory of the astronomical costs of living. “Ours is a community in which simultaneously has a great deal of money in certain ways and a great deal of poverty and others, given that we’re a community that largely falls below the median income level for half our population,” Bigstyck said. “That’s just the potential for people to be insecure with food.” Despite challenges in the present, Rodriguez is optimistic that her pursuit of an education at the expense of a more robust paycheck will reap great benefits in the future. Similar to many families, her attitude is one of hope and perseverance. “I know right now we are struggling financially. But again, this is just temporary. I know I’m gonna get in a better position in the future. I have faith.” This story is part of a 4-part story in partnership with the California Humanities fellowship, that can be found in full on Theskylineview.com.
Raymond Gutierrez share a few observations regarding their experiences in their line of work being online vs. in-person. Both Townsley and Gutierrez have work related to student resources around Skyline. Townsley, who runs the Supplemental Instructor program, finds online school interesting. The SI program embeds an SI leader in certain courses to give students an extra support system in that class. Whether it be a general guide to the course or an additional learning/tutoring resource, this is what SI leaders provide. Gutierrez is the counterpart to Townsley, running the Peer Mentoring program. They help students navigate their college experience by offering a wide variety of resources: time management, e-mail etiquette, and assisting students in finding the skills they need to succeed in college. With both programs being linked as resources for students, they both find that community building is more successful in an in-person setting. While both staff members like the flexibility of the virtual world, it’s easier for students to be acquainted and get comfortable with Skyline’s resources by seeing a friendly face on campus. So after two years, where are Skyline students now? It seems that the college experience is different for everyone. Some people naturally gravitate toward the natural in-person setting, while others like working alone in their own space. Luckily, Skyline provides the opportunity to experience both online and off-line courses. It’s up to students to see what works best for them, but even so, many resources are available to help them succeed in their chosen path.