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“Those starving children in Africa would want those gorgonzola cheese-covered sprouts in olive oil. You should be grateful.”
This phrase could be modified to say “Those 900 families in Seattle that go to the University Food Bank every week would probably not like those gorgonzola cheese-covered sprouts either, but you should appreciate that you can afford to eat three meals a day.” At a Spokane food bank, 60% of parents there said they skipped meals so that their children could eat; and you could fill Safeco field five times with children ‘living in poverty’ in our state.
Last year, 1.2 million people went to Washington food banks. This is twice the population of Seattle . And last year, the Rainier Valley food bank served about 5,000 people a month. This year, that number has doubled.
In 2008, the poverty rate for king county was almost 10%. 13% of people under the poverty line were kids 5 and younger– the largest age group. Next was ‘Youth 6-17’ at 9.2%.
At least 8,500 people in our county are homeless ‘on any given night’.
And itt’s not all about the food, but the right food. Vitamin A deficiency can cause blindness and mental challenges in children. Over 100 million kids don’t have enough vitamin A.
Some things that food banks are always looking for are canned fruit, peanut butter, pasta and rice, and basic hygiene products like diapers, toilet paper, toothbrushes and tampons.
Feeding America (formerly known as Second Harvest), our nations largest food bank network, gives food to over 23 million people a year. This is more people then are in Texas. About 25 million people in America need food stamps.
From 1999 to 2007 the number of Americans under the poverty line has increased by four million.
Seattle Population and Demographics
King County Review of Health and Human Services