Chronic Hunger in... California?!

This might not be a surprise to everyone, but to me, the number of people facing trouble acquiring food is staggering,

Hunger and poor nutrition are increasing in California, with nearly 3 million low-income adults reporting that they struggle each day to keep food on the table, according to a study released Tuesday by UCLA researchers.

3 million people?! That is about 10% of our state's population that are finding it difficult obtaining food - an absolutely astounding number, especially since we are the nation's biggest agricultural state as well. So, why is it such a problem in our state?

Harrison said several factors may be at work, including growing housing and healthcare costs, low wages and difficulty in obtaining federal food stamps. The study concluded that the Food Stamp Program has been particularly underutilized in California. Of those adults who were eligible and reported episodes of hunger, fewer than 18% received food stamps.

Luckily, the Legislature is trying to get involved with this problem, although it appears they have sat on their hands for too long. Still, a number of the statistics are quite puzzling.

Food insecurity was the highest in the Central Valley counties of Kern and Tulare — among the most abundant agricultural regions in the world — and lowest in Marin and the far northern counties of Siskiyou, Lassen, Trinity and Modoc.

This is just completely unacceptable and inhumane...

Full Article at LA Times.