Food Shortage Hits Charities - Local Hunger-Relief Agencies Squeezed by Increased Demand

Local hunger-relief efforts are in the midst of a severe food shortage and will enter the holiday season insufficiently stockpiled to meet the community’s anticipated needs.

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank--the nation’s largest clearinghouse for donated commodities--has witnessed a 23% drop in contributions during the first 10 months of the year.

Compounding the problem is the fact that the demand for charitable food assistance is increasing, according to unofficial estimates.

“I cannot tell you how tragic things are. Food is scarce,” said Doris Bloch, the center’s executive director since 1983. “This is the worst we’ve seen, bar none . . . . I’d say it’s a crisis.”

Distributes to 430 Outlets

The organization distributes both perishable and non-perishable foodstuffs to 430 different outlets in Southern California that, in turn, help feed 175,000 people per week.

The current slowdown was particularly evident in October when Bloch’s group distributed only 1 million pounds of food into the region versus 1.8 million pounds during the same period last year. She estimates that the food bank’s contribution to the area’s various charitable organizations will total about 18 million pounds for 1988, a sizeable drop from 23.2 million pounds in 1987.

Two factors are primarily responsible for the shortfall.

Foremost is the sharp cut in the amount of surplus food made available by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For the last several years, anti-hunger agencies could rely upon continual supplies of non-fat dry milk, cheese, butter and other commodities from government storage. Now, however, much of the excess has been donated and the surplus is well below previous levels.

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank’s allotment of USDA commodities, for instance, has been cut by 33%. To date, the federal agency has provided 5.9 million pounds of food, Bloch said, compared with 8.8 million pounds overall last year.

The decline in government assistance, though unwelcome, had been anticipated. But a corresponding drop in private-sector contributions was completely unexpected.

Donations from the public, particularly the food corporations, have fallen 15% from 1987, or about 1.5 million pounds in the first 10 months of this year. This catagory of contributions currently stands at 8.6 million pounds.

“I’m not an economist, but everyone is aware of the mergers and acquisitions that have taken place in the food industry. My belief is that donated food is not high on their agenda anymore,” Bloch said. “I can understand, but that doesn’t make it any easier for the food bank.”

The supply shortages have been heightened by the growing problem of hunger locally. Need has increased among several specific groups, Block said.

“Charitable agencies keep telling us that they are seeing more and more people coming to them for help,” she said. “They are still seeing people from the undocumented population who will not seek food stamps or welfare (for fear of immigration problems). And there are those whose food stamps do not last through the month. Then there’s the underemployed--people whose paycheck isn’t enough. And most troubling is the rise in the number of children living in poverty . . . . We are seeing a lot more adults with little children waiting in line for food.”

As many as 1 in 5 children in Los Angeles County lives in poverty, according to Bloch.

Among those neighborhood groups that can anticipate decreased food supplies are soup kitchens, homeless shelters and pantries (outlets that distribute groceries to those in need rather than serve meals). Not only will these operations be forced to reduce the amount of food given to the needy, but some will also limit the number of times families or individuals can receive assistance.

The overall situation has led Bloch to put out a call to the public for help.

At present, the most critical shortage is for nonperishable foods such as canned goods, pasta, soups and other packaged items. These products are important in the local battle against hunger because they can be quickly distributed, as is, via the pantries to those in need.

“We are missing the non-perishable dry goods--the things that can be delivered to a pantry and then taken home by a needy family. Or used by people who don’t have a place to go home to,” Bloch said.

Timing Questioned

Bloch strongly disagrees with those cynics who might suggest that the food bank’s plea for donations is merely an annual affair timed to coincide with Thanksgiving.

“If somebody says that, then they can come to our facility and take a picture of the warehouse where they will see empty storage racks and other areas filled with (hollow crates). People can’t eat that stuff,” she said. “It’s ironic and tragic. Everyone wants to help the hungry this time of year. And that is what we live for, too . . . . But I don’t have enough food to give.”

For more information, write the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank at 1900 E. 25th St., Los Angeles 90058 or call (213) 234-3030.