Millions Have No Food On The Thanksgiving Table As Farm Bill Stalls In Senate
Food banks and pantries fear the worst prompting a national campaign to raise resources to respond
CHICAGO --- November 21, 2007 --- Food Banks across America are facing a potential crisis as the holidays approach and millions of Americans seek help feeding their families. America’s Second Harvest--The Nation’s Food Network, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, is projecting an immediate food shortage of 15 million pounds – the equivalent of more than 400 truckloads or 11.7 million meals – by the end of the year.
Food banks nationwide are experiencing dramatic declines in surplus commodity purchases by the federal government. This has occurred because a healthy farm economy has required less intervention in order to support prices. The Farm Bill, which is currently stalled in the Senate, authorizes funding for nutrition and food assistance programs for low-income families. Enacting a new Farm Bill would strengthen a long-term successful partnership between food banks and USDA, and provide much needed food for those most in need throughout the nation.
“America's Second Harvest food banks and the people served by those organizations need a strong nutrition title in the Farm Bill enacted as soon as possible to begin replenishing dwindling inventories,” said Vicki Escarra, President and CEO of America’s Second Harvest. “Additional help is needed from corporate and individual donors to help us replenish empty food banks shelves.”
America’s Second Harvest is urgently calling for national support to raise funds to help millions of American’s at risk of hunger during this holiday season.
“There is usually an increased demand for food at this time of the year, as fall turns into winter and the holidays begin,” said Escarra. “This year, however, demand is unusually high. Our food banks across the country are reporting significant increases in the number of people seeking emergency food assistance. We are very concerned that we will not have enough food to feed everyone who needs help. Therefore, we are today launching a national effort to fill this gap in donations. We will also turn to the food and grocery industry, which already generously supports our work, to ask for more donations of food to help fill this gap.”
The demand for food assistance is high across the United States. The ailing economy and rising food and fuel prices are taking a toll on struggling families' budgets. Families often face tough choices, such as whether to pay to heat their homes or buy groceries.
“Right now many of our member food banks and food-rescue organizations are seeing an increase in demand, as high as 20 percent in areas including Denver, Orlando and Phoenix,” said Escarra.
“If we cannot fill this gap, people may go hungry. While Americans across the country celebrate the holiday season, more than 35 million men, women, and children worry about the source of their next meal,” Escarra said. “Support is urgently needed to stock our food banks and get food and groceries to those in desperate need.”
What you can do:
The best way to assist in this campaign is to make a financial donation to America's Second Harvest. Your donation will help secure and distribute food for this campaign that will benefit food banks and their agencies in need. Help give struggling families a reason to be hopeful this holiday season. Call 800-344-8070 or visit www.secondharvest.org to give a gift today.
You can also solve the underlying issue—the need for a strong Farm Bill—by visiting the Hunger Action Center at www.hungeractioncenter.org. At that site, you can contact your senators and urge them to push for the quick passage of the Farm Bill; please urge them to also support increased resources for federal nutrition programs, including $250 million with indexing for TEFAP food purchases for distribution to food banks.
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America's Second Harvest — The Nation's Food Bank Network is the largest charitable domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through its network of more than 200 member food banks, America's Second Harvest annually provides assistance to more than 25 million people in need, including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each year, America's Second Harvest secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of food and grocery products to support feeding programs at approximately 50,000 local charitable agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs, and Kids Cafes. To learn more, please visit www.secondharvest.org.
Contact:
Ross Fraser
312.641.6422
.
