Spring Break
National food pantries starving for donations
Jonathan D. Rubin/Religion News Service
Issue date: 6/1/08 Section: Divine Intervention
WASHINGTON -- Dramatic increases in food and gas prices are leaving some religious hunger-relief groups praying for relief.
Problems were already apparent in 2006, but U.S. churches now report increased difficulty getting meals to people who need them. Food distributors see a perfect storm: a huge jump in requests from new clients, decreased donations, and a thinning food supply.
Hunger activists are experiencing severe challenges in at least two areas -- a new farm bill that they say is "inadequate" to meet current needs, and a drop in food supplies for local food pantries and soup kitchens.
The nearly $300 billion farm bill that cleared Congress earlier this month was deemed only "half a loaf" by the Rev. David Beckmann, president of the ecumenical anti-hunger group, Bread for the World.
The farm bill saw heavy lobbying by Catholic Charities, the Episcopal Public Policy Network, the Lutheran Office of Governmental Affairs and others. While cheering the legislation's increase in allocations to food stamps and food banks, advocates said the amount still fell short.
"It (was) inadequate even before the economic crisis hit, and certainly inadequate at this point," said Candy Hill, a policy expert at Catholic Charities USA. Still, she said, "it's progress that they didn't slash it in half."
Catholic Charities heads a network of more than 1,700 agencies nationwide, which report difficulties at all levels. At the top, groups like America's Second Harvest, which provides food to 75 percent of the nation's soup kitchens and food pantries, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture has cut its donations of staples like milk, meat and fresh fruits and vegetables by 10 percent over the last five years.
"That's 200 million pounds of food -- gone," said Ross Fraser, spokesman at Second Harvest.
Food prices have gone up for a variety of reasons, including rising fuel costs, the diversion of corn to ethanol production, and the related rise in commodities prices worldwide. In 2008, food prices are projected to increase at least 4 to 5 percent.
Problems were already apparent in 2006, but U.S. churches now report increased difficulty getting meals to people who need them. Food distributors see a perfect storm: a huge jump in requests from new clients, decreased donations, and a thinning food supply.
Hunger activists are experiencing severe challenges in at least two areas -- a new farm bill that they say is "inadequate" to meet current needs, and a drop in food supplies for local food pantries and soup kitchens.
The nearly $300 billion farm bill that cleared Congress earlier this month was deemed only "half a loaf" by the Rev. David Beckmann, president of the ecumenical anti-hunger group, Bread for the World.
The farm bill saw heavy lobbying by Catholic Charities, the Episcopal Public Policy Network, the Lutheran Office of Governmental Affairs and others. While cheering the legislation's increase in allocations to food stamps and food banks, advocates said the amount still fell short.
"It (was) inadequate even before the economic crisis hit, and certainly inadequate at this point," said Candy Hill, a policy expert at Catholic Charities USA. Still, she said, "it's progress that they didn't slash it in half."
Catholic Charities heads a network of more than 1,700 agencies nationwide, which report difficulties at all levels. At the top, groups like America's Second Harvest, which provides food to 75 percent of the nation's soup kitchens and food pantries, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture has cut its donations of staples like milk, meat and fresh fruits and vegetables by 10 percent over the last five years.
"That's 200 million pounds of food -- gone," said Ross Fraser, spokesman at Second Harvest.
Food prices have gone up for a variety of reasons, including rising fuel costs, the diversion of corn to ethanol production, and the related rise in commodities prices worldwide. In 2008, food prices are projected to increase at least 4 to 5 percent.
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