Although we live in a wealthy nation, 13 million children in America live in households with limited or uncertain access to sufficient food.

SUPPORT THE FOODBANK

Report from the Honorary Chair and President

Dear Foodbank Supporters:

Feeding the poor is not a short term process, and each day The Foodbank of Southern California battles 3 emergencies for hundreds of thousands of people...those emergencies are called breakfast, lunch and dinner. Just because we don't see emaciated children with swollen bellies walking around the streets of Los Angeles County, doesn't mean that food insecurity and malnutrition are not major problems. Hidden hunger is found most often in seniors, children, the working poor and the poorest of the poor. Hidden hunger often is:

• the senior who eats only inexpensive noodles, because within the American healthcare system over 25% of low income people have to choose between buying food and paying for medication.
• the overweight but undernourished woman, whose limited food budget restricts her access to fresh foods such as fruits, vegetables, and lean meats.
• the family who faces a choice between buying food or buying heat.
• the child who cannot concentrate in school because he/she does not have regular access to nutritious foods.

The community's generosity makes it possible for our food distribution programs to feed hungry children, families and seniors in Los Angeles County. This successful humanitarian program, offered by The Foodbank to hundreds of charitable community-based organizations welcomes a partnership with you in rebuilding and reshaping the lives of vulnerable citizens in the community. Your support will help fulfill the basic human right and need for nutritional food and make a life-changing impact for the vulnerable and impoverished children, families and seniors we serve.

The Foodbank strives to meet the challenges of feeding hungry children, senior citizens and families daily. Over the past year we recorded substantial gains in nutritious food distributed, children fed, and individuals volunteering. The Foodbank of Southern California appreciates the many individuals, corporations, foundations, and human service providers that enable us to keep the warehouse stocked, the doors open, and food distributed to those who need our help.

Large donations of nutritious food from major producers and financial support from individuals, local corporations and foundations continue to be the backbone of our program. (The Foodbank is not a United Way agency.) This year we received and distributed 33.5 million pounds of nutritious surplus foods, on an unprecedented $1.4 million budget. Your support makes it possible to put food into the mouths of thousand of people, 65% of whom are children and 20% senior citizens.

The Board of Directors and Staff are committed to providing food to the poor and hungry of Southern California. The Foodbank urgently needs the continued support of the community at a time when the number of poor families and individuals in need of food continues to grow.

John F. Knapp President

H. Delano Roosevelt Honorary Chair

The Facts Today

Hunger is a condition of poverty. Living below the poverty line puts tremendous strain on a household budget, adversely affecting the ability to purchase a nutritionally adequate diet. In the last 5 years, the number of working poor has outpaced the overall employment increase and there is an ever increasing population of working poor families who live below the poverty line and struggle to provide their families with nutritionally adequate diets, let alone keep food on the table. It is not surprising that impoverished people make choices between paying for food and other necessities, such as utilities, housing, or medical care. Unfortunately this trend continues today.

Los Angeles and Long Beach are ranked 1 and 3 of all California cities with children under the age of 18 living below the poverty line. Hungry children do not grow and develop well if they are not fed a proper nutritionally balanced diet. Poor nutrition interferes with their ability to learn and reach their full potential. When children are chronically undernourished their bodies conserve the limited food energy available. Energy is first reserved for maintenance of critical organ function, second for growth, and last for social activity and cognitive development. As a result, undernourished children decrease their activity levels and become more apathetic. This in turn affects their social interactions, inquisitiveness, and overall cognitive functioning. Inadequate nutrition (even mild undernutrition) is a major cause of impaired cognitive development, and is associated with increased educational failure among impoverished children. Hungry children also suffer from two to four times as many individual health problems, such as unwanted weight loss, fatigue, headaches, irritability, inability to concentrate and frequent colds, as low-income children whose families do not experience food shortages. They are also more likely to be ill and absent from school. Additionally, new studies now reveal that there may be a link between child violence and chronic malnutrition.

Older Americans are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition. Nearly 20% of older Americans - one in five - live in poverty or near poverty. They are the least likely group to participate in government food programs. Reasons for low participation include personal pride, confusion over eligibility guidelines, and difficulty in reaching this target population through traditional outreach methods. Aside from the obvious health risks of forgoing medical care, seniors who experience hunger are at risk for serious health problems. Hunger increases their risk for stroke, exacerbates pre-existing ill health conditions, limits the effectiveness of many prescription drugs, and may affect brain chemistry increasing the incidence of depression and isolation. Research suggests that insufficient nutrient intake accounts for a disproportionate amount of health care costs among low-income elderly individuals, unrelated to the aging process. Without food, the elderly go to nursing homes prematurely. The average charge for nursing home care in California at this time is $125 a day or roughly $45,000 per year. Meanwhile, a year's worth of meals costs $1,325.