Economic Crunch Strains Food Banks
Food Companies Step Up To Provide For Others' Plates
Among the institutions feeling the squeeze from the economic crunch are the nation's food banks, which are receiving record numbers of hungry people, reported Meat & Poultry.com. The report cited a recent New York Times story indicating that demand for food aid has increased by 40% in the nation's regions that have been hardest hit by the economic downturn and by 20% even in areas with relatively healthy local economies.

"Requests are so high that some food centers are turning away the hungry. In Winston-Salem, the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina posted a notice on its website advising food pantries and soup kitchens of an 8- to 10-week wait to find out whether their membership had been approved," reported the newspaper.

"We just hear one horror story after another," said Ross Fraser, spokesman for Feeding America, the USA's largest food bank network, which had been called America's Second Harvest. "We're seeing people we've never seen before ? working people, a husband and wife working minimum-wage jobs who have to choose between heating their house or feeding their families because there's just not enough money to do both."

According to the Times, one American household in nine was "food insecure" (the government avoids the word "hungry") for at least part of 2006. More than a third of these households "had very low food security?meaning that the food intake of one or more adults was reduced and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and other resources for food," stated a recent federal study, which also estimated that 35.5 million people?nearly as many as live in California?sometimes lack enough to eat and that 10.1 million adults and children, roughly the population of Michigan, often go hungry in America.

"What makes the demand so striking this year is not only the suddenness but also the demographic that is seeking help," reported the Times. "Most of the newcomers have been employed and have managed to survive dips in the job market."

Food banks expect overwhelming crowds at Thanksgiving, Fraser said, adding that protein, especially protein from meat and poultry products, is always the most difficult food item for food banks to find even as it is the most nutrient-dense.

As a result, Tyson, Cargill and American Meat Institute (AMI) have stepped up to provide food for others' plates. Cargill announced a donation of 40 tons of turkey to food banks in 28 cities. Tyson typically donates between seven and ten million pounds a year to Feeding America and in the next two weeks plans to announce a "significant" donation to aid the charity which is facing increasing demand and tightening supplies. And AMI announced that its "Meating the Need" program, co-sponsored by Feeding America, will receive new vigor as it is enveloped in AMI's new sustainability initiative, which will be rolled out next year.

Fraser noted that food donations for Feeding America in general have been down locally but, due to involvement from companies and associations, assistance has increased nationally. "Without them, I don't know where we'd be," he said.

For more information about Feeding America, visit its website at http://feedingamerica.org.

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