More than three-quarters of a million low-income adults in Los Angeles County live with hunger or make daily decisions about whether to eat or pay for other essential needs such as shelter or clothing, according to a new UCLA Center for Health Policy Research report.
Compiled with data from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2001), the report estimates 214,000 low-income adults in Los Angeles County suffer from hunger, and 561,000 more live at risk of hunger day to day. Among the county's ethnic populations, food insecurity — hunger or risk of hunger — among low-income adults is most common among African American adults (36.1 percent), followed by Latinos (33.2 percent), Asians (25.4 percent) and whites (20.9 percent).
In addition to the countywide data, the report estimates food insecurity within the eight service planning areas managed by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, and for all 26 health districts contained within those planning areas. The Antelope Valley has the highest rate of food insecurity among low-income adults (38.5 percent), and the West planning area — which includes Santa Monica and West Los Angeles — the lowest (22.5 percent). The San Fernando Valley, the most populous planning area, has the highest number of low-income adults living with food insecurity (129,000).
Funded by the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, the report looks at food insecurity findings below the county level, down to the health district. This report shows that high food insecurity rates are found throughout the county, not just in the inner cities.
"Our findings show that hunger exists in every corner of Los Angeles County, exacting a psychological and economic toll that reaches well beyond afflicted families," said Charles DiSogra, lead investigator, senior research scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, and director of the California Health Interview Survey. "The key to addressing the problem is the integration and growth of the patchwork of food banks, charitable food programs, and federal, state, county, city and school programs that comprise a sometimes unreliable safety net against hunger and the risk of hunger."
Michael Flood, executive director of the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank and a partner in the research, said the demand for emergency food assistance in Los Angeles County has increased each year of the 30-year history of the organization.
"We are seeing increased food insecurity not only in traditionally low-income areas, but also in growing areas of the county like the San Fernando, San Gabriel and Antelope valleys," Flood said. "We hope the results of this report will prompt local, state and federal officials to recognize the magnitude of this problem and the need for food assistance among their constituencies."
Los Angeles County, the state's most populous, is home to about one-third of California's low-income adults, or 2.6 million. For the purposes of this report, low-income adults were defined as living below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. A family of four with income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level earns less than $36,200 per year.
Lack of assured access to enough food through socially acceptable means is termed "food insecurity" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Food insecurity may result in hunger — going without food — or risk of hunger.
Among the report's findings: