PUBLISHER'S
PERSPECTIVES: Right in the Gut
Michael Vidor/Publisher
October
2008
According to the
USDA, 35.5 million people—including 12.6
million children—live in households that
experience hunger. This represents more than one
in ten households in the U.S. While many of us
worry about the debate-skewed politics of human
conditions elsewhere, the increasing hunger in
our own country remains a relative non-issue. Our
Central Coast communities are no exception. Rather
than go on about it, I’ll let the experts
do the talking.
Leslie Sunny, Executive Director of the Monterey
County Food Bank:
Agriculture and hospitality
dominate the economy of the Central Coast, and
the national image of our area is one of wealth
and beauty. Although the Food Bank for Monterey
County is situated in the Salinas Valley, known
as the “Salad Bowl
of the World,” hunger exists. In a nation
as rich as ours, it is inconceivable that anyone
should go hungry. In “the Salad Bowl of the
World,” it is unconscionable that some
20,000 children under age
18 live in poverty. Monterey
County is seeing a dramatic increase in the number
of households coming to us for food assistance,
while our food resources are diminishing. We have
experienced a 61 percent drop
in our main food resource, USDA food, over the past six years. During
2006-07 we served 36,218 households through our
Emergency Food Assistance Program alone. In 2007-08,
we served 55,964 households, an increase of 54
percent.
Carl Hansen, Executive Director of the San Luis
Obispo County Food Bank:
There is great sadness and,
frankly, anger that our government is so willing
to turn a deaf ear to the nonprofit and public
school community whose job it is to reach out to
help those who cannot help themselves. Government
support overall is declining and agencies are being
forced to reduce services. Collaboration and efficiency
are always good things—and [they] ought to be going
on all the time to make dollars stretch—but
these cost savers cannot be expected to replace
the cutbacks that are taking the muscle out of
social services provided so efficiently by nonprofit
organizations such as the Food Bank. We serve about
35,000 people annually—about 15
percent of
our population. We distribute over 4,000,000
lbs. of food annually, with a value of over $6 million.
Many of the folks we serve take advantage of the
food services available to them through agencies
that obtain much of their food from us.
Erik Talkin, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara
County Food Bank:
We are seeing an average 25
percent rise in the need of the clients who come
to our member agencies needing food. That will
mean 125,000 of Santa Barbara County’s hungriest
citizens getting the help they need. This is the
time that the Food Bank needs the most investment
from our supporters so that we can help those in
need. The price of wheat has gone up ten-fold.
Eggs and milk are showing over a 25 percent rise
in price to the consumer. The Food Bank needs to
ensure that these essential foodstuffs are available
to keep all Santa Barbarans healthy.
The message is clear: conditions are worsening.
We can define and establish priorities and humane
standards for our communities and set reasonable
parameters and expectations for a manageable healthy
environment. Child hunger should not be negotiable.
Learn more about the programs through the California
Association of Food Banks (cafoodbanks.org) or
your local chapter.
Get
More Publisher's Perspectives:
September 2008: Economics
101
November 2008: Ramble On
December 2008:
Just the Fax
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