Rotten vegetables at various food distributions, having to live in poverty to be able to qualify for food benefits and not being able to feed their kids.
That was the translated assessment a woman gave of what it’s like to be hungry in Orange County to a room full of food pantry operators, food bank leaders and a handful of representatives for local elected officials at the Dwelling Place in Anaheim on June 13.
She’s not alone in this experience.
A new survey conducted by Charitable Ventures in partnership with the OC Hunger Alliance found that out of 811 respondents who use food pantries or benefits, 60% said they have received food in the past year that expired and could not be used.
But it doesn’t end there.
There’s a need for transportation for residents to get to food pantries.
Undocumented residents are unable to get public food benefits.
People also struggle with a lack of choice, protein and culturally appropriate foods at pantries.
It all comes along with funding issues and insufficient storage space.
These are the top challenges for over 300,000 OC residents who don’t have regular access to nutritious and healthy food and the hundreds of food providers and nonprofits trying to help feed them, according to the newly produced assessment.
To view the full assessment, click here.
The survey is painting a clearer picture for food bank leaders and pantry operators who’ve long been battling hunger in Orange County – highlighting the gaps in OC’s food assistance network.
And those leaders are hoping the findings of the report will help them fortify and improve the efficiency of the current assistance system to help address hunger long term.
“It’s about getting to the point where we are reducing the need, and we’re becoming more efficient,” said Mike Learakos, one of the leaders with the OC Hunger Alliance, at the June meeting in Anaheim where the assessment was unveiled.
“So when there is funding that goes to a food bank or an agency, that money goes further – it has a greater impact.”
Learakos, along with the heads of OC’s two food banks, have been meeting since last year with pantry operators, donors and the families that rely on them.
Their efforts focus on a single mission:
To try and end hunger in Orange County.
[Read: On a Mission to End Hunger in Orange County]
Embarking on the mission comes after COVID shutdowns threw OC’s networks of food banks and pantries into the frontlines, ensuring local families had enough food on the table to eat week after week.
It came as scores of people were suddenly laid off because of the pandemic closures.
Food bank leaders had to learn and adapt in real time on how to address skyrocketing food needs amid a pandemic in a county of over 3 million people as lines of cars pulled up one by one to get a box of food in 2020.
Four years later, hunger and the need for nutritious food has not dropped down to pre-pandemic levels and food bank leaders say it’s unclear when they will.
Now, food providers and food insecure families are navigating a food cliff – sparked by an abrupt end last year to increased public COVID-19 food assistance and other benefits that helped millions of Californians buy food combined with high inflation costs.
Filling in the Gaps
In response to the assessment results, food bank leaders are encouraging more networks to provide culturally appropriate foods like Halal or Kosher goods and food choice – instead of pre-made boxes for families to reduce waste and meet people’s needs.
“This includes providing more protein, fruits, vegetables, and dairy along with healthy choices to increase nutritious food options,” said Limor Zimskind, a consultant for Charitable Ventures, who presented the results at the June 13 meeting.
The recommendations also include removing barriers to food benefits by providing translators and information in multiple languages and improving access to those benefits and food pantries overall – especially in terms of transportation
OC Hunger Alliance leaders are also looking to expand and improve collaboration between food providers in the county to reduce food waste and enhance efficiency.
Learakos said the alliance’s executive committee will bring on representatives from 211 OC, the OC Social Services Agency, Meals on Wheels OC, Orange County Grantmakers and CalOptima.
From there, the executive committee will create working groups made up of stakeholders and experts to help address a host of barriers and challenges to improve the food assistance system.
Learakos said some of the first issues these groups will work on is expanding food choice at pantries and the logistics of getting food to people who need it.
He also said that at the end of the day the real issue isn’t food, it’s poverty.
“There is no one who is food insecure, who has the financial means to not be food insecure,” Learakos said.
“Our goal is really to get to the root cause to shorten the line.”
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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