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Reuniting with family and friends to share
that special holiday dinner is a tradition
shared by many of us. For many of us,
donating our time and money to help the less
fortunate is another tradition during the
holidays. Even if that's not a tradition of
yours, it's not hard to find food donation
bins or local charity organizations to help
out.
Currently the state of California is
faced with many hardships. As the sixth
leader in agricultural exports in the world,
California is faced with more than 9.2
million people living in food-insecure
households; more than 14 million adults are
overweight or obese; an estimated 6,100
people died of diabetes-related deaths;
schools turned away $721.5 million in
federal money; and less than 40 percent of
eligible persons are receiving food stamps.
This translates to 166,000 low-income San
Fernando Valley residents suffering from
food insecurity - at-risk of hunger -
according to a study released by the UCLA
Center for Health Policy Research last
summer. This number is up 16 percent from
the 2001 study, which cited 143,000 at-risk
of hunger, the largest number in Los Angeles
County.
Efforts to mitigate hunger in the Valley
include Valley Interfaith Council's
Preventing Hunger Campaign to raise hunger
awareness and rally the community to help to
make this a hunger-free zone. VIC operates
three senior centers with congregate and
homebound meals programs, and works with a
coalition of 19 independent food pantries
fighting hunger. In 2004, over 69,000 people
received food through the food pantries.
But even this valiant effort is not
enough to meet the needs of all those who
are at risk of hunger. Studies show that
hunger in schoolchildren results in higher
rates of tardiness and absences and
increased visits to the nurse's office.
Obesity leads to adverse health consequences
such as diabetes. Furthermore,
underutilization of federal food-assistance
programs turns away federal monies we
desperately
need during times of deficit and budget
cuts.
California can begin to address its
hardships by implementing smart policies to
eliminate hunger and poverty through
existing programs. The Food Stamp Program is
the biggest federal food-assistance program
to protect individuals from hunger, yet
California has the lowest participation
rates of all states. California is one of
only four states to require fingerprinting
of all adult food-stamp applicants, and the
only state to mandate recipients submit
paperwork every three months. These
requirements impede many from reaping the
benefits of the Food Stamp Program.
The School Breakfast Program and National
School Lunch Program are also federal
food-assistance programs to ensure that
schoolchildren don't go hungry. These
programs guarantee nutritious meals to
students, but many children are not given
the opportunity to take advantage of them.
More than 1,200 schools in California do not
offer school breakfast.
Celebrating the holidays with our family
and friends is a tradition for most of us at
this time of the year. Let's start a new
tradition of implementing smart policies
that can lead California in the direction of
increased work productivity, increased
school attendance, maximum utilization of
food programs and viable opportunities for
every Californian to lead healthy and
productive lives.
Bob Nienhuis chairs the Valley Interfaith
Council's Social Concerns Committee,
www.vic-la.org. Danika Choe is a policy
advocate with California Food Policy
Advocates. |