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  Valley ProgramsBeyond Soup Kitchens to Feeding America By Christine Kowalski For most Americans, rising food costs may mean deciding between brand-name and generic groceries. But for a growing number of families, the decision is between food and shelter, or food and medical care. For the millions of Americans for whom cutting the food budget has meant cutting out meals, Feeding America has done just what its name suggests. Each year, Feeding America provides food for 25 million people through its national network of more than 200 regional food banks and food-rescue organizations. Formerly known as America's Second Harvest Network, the organization obtains and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of food and grocery products annually. More than 70,000 food distribution programs, including soup kitchens, food pantries, emergency shelters and after-school programs, receive food through Feeding America. Carla Nardella is the executive director for Mountaineer Food Bank, which distributes food to 48 counties in West Virginia.  "We have 474 active
feeding programs. When the food hits our warehouse, the feeding programs can access [an inventory of] that food
through the Internet," Nardella said. The inventory is also made available by fax and mail. Program representatives
place orders for food online or by phone.Nardella has spent more than two decades fighting hunger. One day's mission involved helping a young mother locate infant formula for her baby. With the local food pantry closed, Nardella contacted a church for help. She waited at her office into the evening for word that the mother had been helped, saying she would drive to the mother's location herself, if needed. "We'll see to it that that baby gets some milk," she said. "These are the kinds of things that we see happen more and more often," she said. Feeding programs are seeing a lot of the working poor. "They're coming down to: do I buy gas this week or groceries," Nardella said.  "Everything is
going up, our utilities and food," Nardella said. "Wages just aren't going up fast enough to keep up
with everything. People are trying to keep fuel in the tank to get to work, and they're turning to food pantries
to make up the difference of what they would buy in the store."Who are America's hungry? According to Feeding America's website, one in four people in line at a soup kitchen is a child. Sometimes, the hungry are our neighbors. More than 40 percent of those helped by Feeding America reside in rural or suburban households. "I live in a county where there's not a soup kitchen for the general public," Nardella said. "Even if there was a soup kitchen in a small town, I'm not sure that all the people who need to be served could get to it." Nardella recalls a woman who walked six miles each way to get food for the family's dinner. "It was a grandmother who was trying to raise her grandchildren on a fixed income. She didn't have the money to buy enough groceries for all the mouths that she had to feed." Food banks are reporting an increase in the number of people in need. A recent survey of 180 food banks showed 99 percent of respondents reporting an increase in the number of people served, compared to one year ago. The average increase reported was between 15 and 20 percent, the survey revealed. Fuel costs are putting the pinch on Feeding America's transportation system. In fiscal year 2002, the organization moved approximately 100 pounds of food for each dollar spent on transportation expenses. Today, it can move fewer than 50 pounds for each dollar spent, in effect doubling transportation costs. The Feeding America network obtains food and groceries from national and local product donors, from U.S. government programs and by purchase. Restaurants and grocery stores can easily arrange to have leftover food picked up for donation. Businesses may enjoy tax benefits, as well as an enhanced public image, by donating surplus, damaged and other items. Feeding America representatives pick up food daily from the Food Lion of Martinsburg at Old Courthouse Square, according to assistant manager Doug Whiteman. "I just think it's an excellent program," Whiteman said. "We're trying to reach out to help other individuals in the county." Produce, deli and bakery items that Whiteman describes as "second-quality" are pulled from the store for donation. Feeding America representatives collect about three shopping carts full of food each day at the store. "If an apple has a little bit of a marking on it that we can't sell at full quality, that's basically a second-quality product," Whiteman said.  Whiteman's Food Lion
store also holds two food drives a year, one before Thanksgiving and another before Christmas. Shoppers can purchase
and donate boxes packed with staples like rice and canned goods, or they may donate other non-perishables.Companies including ConAgra Foods or General Mills donate products or transportation. Products that aren't destined for supermarket shelves for reasons such as mislabeling or surplus inventory are donated to the organization and transported to regional food banks. The food banks store, inventory and distribute the donated food to local feeding programs. Monetary donations also are welcome, and Feeding America can stretch a dollar. Through its network, every dollar donated provides 16 meals. Much of the 2 billion pounds of food and grocery products that are distributed by Feeding America is obtained by donation or purchased with donated funds. Nardella encourages monetary donations. "Food pantries may have means that they can get food less expensively. We buy truckloads of food and pass those savings on to the food pantry," she said. Feeding America supports a number of other programs that aid its fight to end hunger. The BackPack Program assists children who rely on free or reduced-priced school lunch programs by providing food for those children to eat outside of school. According to the organization, "backpacks are discreetly distributed to children on the last day before the weekend or holiday vacation." Backpacks are filled with food that is "child-friendly, nonperishable, easily consumed and vitamin fortified." Feeding America reports that as many as 35,000 backpacks are distributed each week. The organization also trains its network in emergency preparedness, and it facilitates donations and supports emergency feeding centers during disasters. The network has provided more than 100 million pounds of emergency food and supplies to disaster victims during the past five years. For more information about Feeding America, or to find programs in your local area, visit www.feedingamerica.org. |
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