Alameda County Supervisor Announces Plan to End Hunger by 2020

Supervisor Wilma Chan visited the Alameda County Food Bank in Oakland Wednesday morning to announce the launch of the All In To End Hunger 2020 Initiative. During an 11 a.m. news conference, Chan said the initiative’s goal is to eliminate food insecurity in Alameda County within five years by focusing on inefficiencies in the food system, public policy reforms, economic development and community involvement.

“Poverty in the U.S. is the highest that it’s been since 1965, and California has the highest poverty rate in the nation,” Chan said. “There are nearly 200,000 people living in poverty right here in Alameda County, and income inequality is the highest that it’s been since the 1920s.”

Chan said that since California is the eighth richest economy in the world, feeding our children, seniors and working families should be a moral imperative. She invited all Alameda County residents to get involved in the initiative by donating food, contributing to the efforts of a community garden and reducing their own food-waste. Suzan Bateson, executive director of the Alameda County Food Bank, said one in five Alameda County residents depend on food banks.

“These aren’t just people below the poverty line,” Bateson said. “One third of them are above the poverty line, and 54 percent of the people we serve have jobs but aren’t making enough to make ends meet.”

“People frequently buy expired food and eat it. People often water down their food in order to make it go farther, and families are buying the cheapest food they can get their hands on to fill empty stomachs,” Bateson said. “Is that the Alameda County that we want?”

Chan said that to end hunger in Alameda County over the next five years it’s going to require policy changes, coordination between agencies and financial resources. To facilitate that process Mark Friedman, chief executive officer for the Thomas J. Long Foundation, announced a $5 million donation to get the initiative started.

By Bay City News

Photo via Shutterstock

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