Tag Archives: starving

Food & Drink

A proposed state task force will aim to address the problem of food insecurity and inaccessibility in Utah. | Instant News


The Food Security Task Force aims to resolve current food accessibility barriers.

(Leah Hogsten | Tribune file photo) This December 24, 2020 photo shows volunteer Leilani Vatuvei, left, and her sister Eime Vatuvi distributing food from the Utah Food Bank to families in need. During the pandemic, racial and ethnic minority communities are disproportionately affected by food insecurity. A bill in the Utah Legislature will set up a task force to try to address the problem.

| 26 February 2021, 11:01 am

A bill filed with the Utah Legislature would establish a task force to tackle Utah’s food insecurity and ensure minority families have access to healthy food.

Sponsored by Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, SB141 will develop plans to ensure food security through a task force composed of Utah state agencies and advocacy groups.

The move won approval in the first Senate floor vote Friday a day after leaving the committee.

US Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as a consistent lack of access to enough food for an active and healthy life.

“As of February 2020, food insecurity in Utah is around 8.2%, which means one in 12 households in our state say they have a food security problem. By December 2020, it will be one in five households, ”said Escamilla during the Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee.

During the pandemic, racial and ethnic minority communities are disproportionately affected. “To the Black, Indigenous and Latinox communities, [food insecurity] nearly double the 19.3% reported in December, ”Gina Cornia, executive director Utahns Against Hunger, said.
American Academy of Family Physicians have identified food insecurity as a public health problem associated with poor cognitive and emotional development in children, and depression and ill health in adults.
“Adults with very low food security have a higher risk of cardiovascular events compared to traditional risk factors,” Maryann Martindale, executive director Utah College of Family Physicians, said. “In children and adolescents, this increases the risk of hypertension, asthma, obesity, poor nutrition, infection, anemia, untreated dental problems, underdeveloped social and emotional skills, poor academic performance, and behavioral problems.”

Martindale said food insecurity leads to desperate tactics such as parents leaving food to feed their children, teenagers not eating to feed their younger siblings and neglecting health and medical problems.

During the pandemic, Utahn turned to community food-like schools and pantries Utah Food Bank. While the soup kitchen continues to play an important role in increasing food securityThere may be other barriers Utah people face in accessing food.

“We answer phone calls from families, seniors, people with disabilities, who are struggling to find ways to buy food for their families or how they will go to the soup kitchen,” said Cornia. “Hunger and food safety is not about not having enough food, it’s about access.”

These barriers include complex online systems, lack of transportation, language barriers for immigrants and refugees and a lack of access to culturally appropriate food among other barriers, Cornia said.

“SB141 gives us the opportunity to break down these barriers and address the fundamental policy problem that prevents people from having enough to eat,” he added.

The Food Security Task Force will consist of specialized state agencies and entities to produce policies for state and local governments.

Among these institutions will be Department of Health, Department of Labor Services, State Education Council, Agriculture department, among others. In addition, advocacy groups, food aid organizations, and representatives from racial and ethnic minority communities will attend.

“The state will not solve everything, but it can certainly help,” said Escamilla.

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Food & Drink

The UF student organization joins Food 4 Kids in fighting food insecurity in public schools | Instant News


GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) – Combating food insecurity in Alachua and Levy County schools is a 4-child food specialty.

“We feed about 1,000 kids a week and we’re really community-based,” said longtime volunteer Rozanne Smith.

With community donations and food movers, volunteers go out on the weekends to prepare canned goods, snacks, breakfast meals, and more. Smith said there was a greater need because of the pandemic.

“We hope that the extra food we provide to the children will help alleviate the hardships they experience during the COVID pandemic,” said Smith. “This is how we as part of the community we can give back.”

The 4 kids meal started about nine years ago feeding only one classroom, now they are feeding children in more than 25 schools and UF MEDLIFE students are happy to lend a helping hand

Last semester the Medical, Education and Development for Low-Income Families (MEDLIFE) volunteer group at UF prepared 205 kits for young people. The students weren’t planning to quit anytime soon.

“In this day and age, people are in such a situation, they don’t spend as much time on education as they should because they are worried about family problems and home problems,” said MEDLIFE Service Director, Nishka Jakkidi. “So I feel like we are here and packing up that basket of food for them to alleviate the problem.”

Jakkidi explained that volunteering to help these children is very valuable every minute.

“Coming here and making a difference and coming home and knowing I made that difference in that child’s life, making them smile when they get this bag of food means a lot to me,” added Jakkidi.

For information on how you can register to volunteer or visit donations https://food4kidsfl.org/donate/

Copyright 2021 WCJB. All rights reserved.

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Food & Drink

The Food Bank of the Albemarle will host the mobile food pantry for the ECPPS family on February 10 | Instant News


ELIZABETH CITY, NC – Do you need food but don’t have time to go to the grocery store? The local food bank brings you food.

On Wednesday, February 10, the Food Bank of the Albemarle will hold a mobile food kitchen event in the front parking lot of Sheep-Harney Elementary School in Elizabeth City from 2-3: 30pm. This event supports all Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public School families.

This is a drive-thru service only, and meals will be placed in the trunk of your vehicle.

Sheep-Harney Primary School is located at 200 W. Elizabeth Street.

Mobile food kitchens cooperate with school districts.

Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools

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Food & Drink

Biden moved forward with additional food aid ahead of the stimulus | Instant News


Earlier this week, President Joe Biden signed an executive order which will help restaurants partner with cities and nonprofits to provide food aid in a move proponents say will help more families get the food they need.

In an executive order signed Tuesday, Biden ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover 100% of costs to states and localities so they can partner with restaurants and non-profit organizations to prepare meals for soup kitchens and food kitchens for distribution.

The basic order in which files are created bipartisan FEED Act reality without the vote of Congress. The proposal, which was originally part of the Biden government’s $ 1.9 trillion emergency assistance proposal, is a win-win solution that allows restaurants to stay open and pay employees to prepare meals for the needy.

“It encourages every resource from the government to help tackle this national hunger,” said Monica Gonzales, federal advocacy director at No Kid Hungry. By issuing the executive order, Gonzales said that meant nonprofits, restaurants and local communities would not have to wait to see if the program would “languish in legislative uncertainty”. “It’s over, it’s available.”

Nearly 24 million Americans, about 11%, sometimes or often don’t get enough to eat during the week, according to the latest Census Bureau survey conducted in mid-January. That’s a significant increase from a pre-pandemic analysis that estimated 8.5 million Americans were starving at some point in 2019, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

To help slow down this crisis, The Biden administration has proposed extending a 15% increase in the Additional Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit increase through September 2021, a renewal that is estimated to keep 40 million Americans out of hunger. Biden is also pushing for a $ 3 billion investment in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and another $ 1 billion to be directed to US territories to help fund additional nutritional assistance.

The Senate budget resolution kicked off the reconciliation process on Friday morning, paving the way for Congress to pass Biden’s aid package in the coming days.

“The coverage of this epidemic is unprecedented,” Gonzales said, but added that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought many opportunities for non-profit and food aid programs to innovate how they help the needy. And proposals like the FEED Act are a step in that direction, he said.

Check: Lawmakers are allocating $ 13 billion for a food aid program in an effort to alleviate the hunger crisis

Do not miss: Here are the 5 best personal loans for December 2020

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Food & Drink

Drive-thru for Friday meals | News | Instant News


In an effort to continue the fight against hunger, the Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank, with support from the Ohio National Guard, will organize a drive-thru food distribution in Bowling Green.

Its website is Wood County Jobs & Family Services, 1928 E. Gypsy Lane Road, on Fridays from 10am to 1pm.

For more information, visit

This is a non-contact distribution.

Pre-register at www.toledofoodbank.org under the events tab, or contact the Toledo Food Bank at 419-242-5000, ext. 215

Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank is a non-profit organization affiliated with Feeding America, the country’s largest domestic hunger relief organization. The food bank serves about 250 nonprofits in the region’s eight counties including Wood, Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky, and Williams.

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