Despite Hawaii’s distancing from the worst effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-hunger advocates remark that food insecurity among its people has not only persisted but is increasing. According to a discussion on the “Spotlight Hawaii” show on Wednesday, Hawaii Foodbank’s president and CEO, Amy Miller Marvin, said that the food bank now serves an average of 125,000 people each month. While this is a remarkable improvement, it is still a 25% increase compared to last year’s number at this same time.
Hawaii Foodbank, a non-profit organization with warehouses on Oahu and Kauai, collects food from various sources and distributes it to food pantries, homeless shelters, and other programs. Last year, it distributed 17.4 million pounds of food, including 4.6 million pounds of fresh produce on the islands.
During the height of the pandemic, Hawaii faced one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, which led to long food pantry lines. Even though the lines have disappeared, the need for food security remains. Daniela Spoto, Director of Anti-Hunger Initiatives at the Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, said that food insecurity can be “invisible” and not immediately observable such that people simply purchase the cheapest, yet unhealthiest food in the convenience store. Typically, the increased cost of living, inflation rates, and other factors in Hawaii make it hard to afford a healthy life.
Food insecurity in Hawaii affects many working households, with 30% of the households Hawaii Foodbank serves having employed individuals. However, as the cost of groceries in Hawaii has increased by about 25% between February 2020 and February 2023, an increasing number of families are seeking help.
Rather than solely focusing on providing food, the anti-hunger community in Hawaii is now prioritizing measures to help families afford healthy food. Spoto mentioned ambitious legislative measures introduced this year that could have supported these efforts, including universal lunches for all public school students and funding for food programs. Together with increased public awareness of food benefits and changes in Hawaii’s food system, such measures are beneficial to tackling food insecurity in Hawaii. Nonetheless, Marvin emphasized that the root cause of food insecurity in Hawaii is the lack of equal access to food due to the inability of people to purchase food to feed their families.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
