Since the start of the Great Recession, the number of people needing food assistance has more than doubled and despite Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida’s record distribution over the last few years, there are still many in need of help, says Greg Higgerson, Vice President-Development, of the non-profit agency.
In 2006, 300,000 people were in need of food assistance in Central Florida, but by 2009, that number soared to over 732,000, and neither the Food Bank nor other non-profits agencies were able to fill that need.
“Unfortunately, our network of 500 non-profits feeding people weren’t able to double their assistance in that period of time and neither were we,” Higgerson said. “We were able to keep it moving forward and have had record food distribution over the last few years, but we certainly haven’t been able to double what we are putting out there.”
Second Harvest distributed nearly 33 million pounds of grocery products for the year ending June 2011, but lots of families, seniors and kids are still not getting the help they need, he declared.
Higgerson laments the fact that, although there is a lot of food in society – more than the population can consume – close to 28 percent of children, on average, in Central Florida are at a high risk of not getting something as basic as food, vital for growth and development.
The problem of food insecurity remains a largely invisible one because, there aren’t yet hoards of people on every street corner, with their hands out, he says. And it can be solved through increased education and awareness of citizens.
“We have a lot of food, that’s the good news, but the bad news is that, not everyone has enough money all the time to pay for what they need,” Higgerson stated. “So, that’s the disconnect people have….Awareness is a huge part of it because, once people see what a huge problem it is and how solveable it is, then, only then can they think well, ‘what can I do, what can my part of helping out be’.”
As if the existing food assistance challenges weren’t enough, there are added concerns too, if Federal government food commodity programs are cut. Higgerson said, if such food programs at the Federal level were scaled back, this would have direct implications for Second Harvest Food Bank’s food distribution.
But, there is some optimisim though, as Second Harvest has been able to increase its food distribution by as much as 27 percent over the past year, owing to new partnerships with major retail outlets. Under its Grocery Alliance Program, the Food Bank partners with food giants like Walmart, Sams Club, Publix and Super Target, distributing millions of pounds of quality products, including high protein items, to those in need.
