Friday, January 28, 2000
Food agencies want Y2K leftovers
Staple items are always in demand
BY MARK CURNUTTE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Many people stocked up on nonperishable food — canned vegetables, instant soup, breakfast cereal — in case the Y2K computer glitch caused a shortage.
Anti-hunger groups nationwide now are asking people with stockpiles to donate.
“Y Go 2 Waste,” sponsored nationally by America's Second Harvest and the Kellogg Co., begins today at the FreeStore/FoodBank in Over-the-Rhine.
Beginning Monday through Feb. 12, food-drive barrels also will be set up at Provident Bank locations through the Tristate. Canned and packaged non-perishable items and bottled water will be accepted during the bank's regular business hours.
“Hunger has not gone away just because the economy is booming,” said Stephen Gibbs, president and CEO of the FreeStore/FoodBank. “A lot of people are struggling to make ends meet and are often forced to make difficult choices.”
The Ohio Hunger Task Force released a report last week showing that 8 percent of Ohio households are food insecure and 3.1 percent are food insecure with hunger.
Most affected are children and single-parent families headed by women, the report said.
The Ohio report mirrored a national study released Jan. 20. An analysis of domestic hunger since the welfare reform legislation of 1996 shows that a strong economy no longer has its historical ability to feed American families, said researchers at the Center on Hunger and Poverty at Tufts University in Boston. More parents are working, but many are unable to feed their children on low wages and reduced or eliminated public aid programs.
The Tufts study, “Paradox of Our Times: Hunger in a Strong Economy,” said that federal policies are pushing greater numbers of families into emergency food programs run by private agencies.
That's the case in the Tristate.
The FreeStore, which serves food pantries and senior service agencies in 20 counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, reports a 17 percent to 20 percent increase in food demand directly related to welfare reform. From fiscal years 1998 to 1999, FreeStore food distribution to those agencies increased from 9.6 million pounds to 12 million pounds.
TO GIVE
• Donations for the “Y Go 2 Waste” food drive can be taken to the FreeStore/FoodBank, 112 E. Liberty St., Over-the-Rhine. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
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