Young people with all types of physical or mental disabilities, in addition to volunteering to prepare bags of food at the Heart of Compassion food bank for families in need, are also paid with food supplies for their loved ones.
South of Maple Street, in the city of Montebello, Stephanie Sandoval, Gladys and Raúl’s tutor, could not fill black plastic bags with croutons or toasted bread for salads that will be distributed from Tuesday to Friday at the place where , they say, you fight hunger and feed hope.
“Our adult program allows them to socialize with their peers,” Stephanie said. “We help them grow with enough confidence to be part of the community, but here [en el banco de comida] “They enjoy volunteering to help others meet their food needs.”
California, considered since 2015 as the fifth largest economy in the world, surpassing the United Kingdom, France and Brazil, in the “Golden State”, is also a state where there is an overabundance of food.
Paradoxically, millions of people struggle to bring food into their homes and suffer from food insecurity, which can lead to hunger.
It happens with the special young people who volunteer at Heart of Compassion, and in every corner of Los Angeles County.
“Sometimes I can buy food, sometimes I can’t,” he told La Opinión. Rodolfo Zamora, an 80-year-old man who emigrated from Michoacán, Mexico.
At a slow pace and supported by his cane, every day he goes out to walk around the Montebello Municipal Park, on Whittier Boulevard to collect cans.
“Ta’ lame. It’s hard, my pension is enough for me to buy a little bit,” said the adult man. “Sometimes I just eat beans, soup and vegetables.”
Luckily, his son and daughter-in-law work and help him pay the rent for an apartment.
Programs that work
In an article by Michael Dimock, president of the Public Health Institute (PHI), a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts for CalMatters, he detailed that some anti-hunger programs are working, including Healthy Food Rx, from the California Nutrition Incentives Program (CNIP). In addition to PHI’s Roots of Change, which is a think tank working to ensure the emergence of a sustainable food system in California.
The CNIP was expanded in the 2023 budget by Governor Gavin Newsom, and Food and Agriculture distributed $2 million in funds to organizations that encourage the purchase and consumption of fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables grown in California.
The ultimate benefit will be to WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program users who purchase fresh produce grown in the state, preferably communities where a large proportion of the population is low-income and communities with high rates of related diseases with the nutritional diet.
Dimock notes that even though the state produces nearly half of the nation’s fruits and vegetables, one in five Californians is food insecure, meaning they have limited or uncertain access to adequate nutrition. Food insecurity does not necessarily cause hunger, but hunger is a possible consequence.
High cost of living and housing
People experience food insecurity in different ways. Some families may only eat lower quality food, while others may simply eat less, or have to turn to food banks.
“California’s wealth and food insecurity issues coexist due to high costs of living and wage disparities in various sectors of the economy,” said Michael Flood, president and CEO of the Regional Food Bank of Los Angeles County, to the Because California, being one of the richest states in the United States, still has a food insecurity problem.
. “Basic needs expenses, and especially housing expenses, are high, and many residents need help affording nutritious food despite the state’s overall wealth,” she added.
To address the problem, he said, greater access to affordable housing, higher wages and targeted support for families and individuals experiencing lower wages are needed. “Collaborative efforts by nonprofits, governments and businesses are crucial to making a lasting impact on the root causes of food insecurity,” she said.