Supplies at Southland Food Banks Drop to Record Low

Despite record prosperity, food banks in Los Angeles and Orange counties report severe shortages this Thanksgiving week, triggered by supermarket mergers and shrinking donations.

Food bank officials say supplies have been gradually slipping over the past decade and have now reached an all-time low.

“There is less food to give on Thanksgiving and less food to give, period, until we get the volume back up again,” said Marcella Barba, development coordinator at Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County.

Besides industry mergers, which means there are fewer donors, the drop-off in donations can be traced to better technology. Food banks traditionally received mislabeled food, damaged cans of food and food with expired labels. But improved manufacturing and handling means fewer damaged goods and consequently fewer donations, officials said.

Finally, some damaged goods are turning up for sale in dollar stores instead of in food banks.

“This year, several grocery stores just stopped giving for a while. Until we hear otherwise, they’ve just stopped,” said Barba. An official with the Food Marketing Institute supermarket association in Washington, D.C., said he could not immediately comment.

Delays by the federal Food and Drug Administration in distributing surplus cheese and other bulk goods have added to the problem, food bank officials said.

Barba, of Second Harvest, said the agency’s warehouse supplies are one-third lower than the normal level, which would mean 700,000 fewer donated meals for the poor. While last year there were 1 million pounds of food in the warehouse near Thanksgiving, this year there are 650,000 pounds. Second Harvest provides food to 350 local charities.

“This is a trend we have known about for awhile. But recently, it’s become more extreme. We have been looking at alternatives, including food from restaurants and from local farms,” Barba said.

‘Problem Is Worse Than I Thought’

Los Angeles Regional Food Bank spokesman Darren Hoffman said warehouse levels are half of what they were last year. The warehouse had 2.6 million pounds of food last year and has only 1.3 million pounds this year.

“The problem is worse than I thought,” he said. “We can make up some with food drives this month, but it will not close the gap. We’re hurting.”

Hoffman said the shortage might not affect the number of meals served on Thanksgiving, but would affect reserves for leaner months and emergencies.

Mark Lowry, director of the Community Development Council’s Orange County Food Bank, said the agency’s inventory has been sharply reduced. Last year, the warehouse had 120,000 pounds of food, this year it has 80,000 pounds.

Lowry said changes in welfare rules mean there are more people in need.

“We have a population that is off assistance, but they are making $6 an hour in an area with very high rents,” Lowry said.

Second Harvest estimates that 400,000 people in Orange County are at risk of going hungry during any given month.

Lowry said many organizations tap the food banks during the holidays, which brings the warehouse inventory to an annual low. To keep supplies up throughout the year, he said, he and other food bank officials try to emphasize that “people who are hungry for the holidays are hungry in July and August, too.”

Barba said her organization has repeatedly turned away volunteers this month because there was no food for them to distribute. On Monday, the organization did not have any turkeys, she said, and was anxiously awaiting a shipment.