Despite gains, Oregon must keep fighting hunger.

Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By Pat Farr For The Register-Guard

The news that Oregon's hunger ranking among the 50 United States dropped from eighth to 17th is certainly welcome. Moreover, Oregon was the only state with a statistically significant drop in what the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls `food insecurity' with hunger. We are now in line with the national average for food insecurity.

But let's take a look behind the ranking and see where it leads.

Hunger is an indicator of far deeper economic issues. As wages have not kept pace with inflation, thousands of Oregonians face nearly impossible choices every day - such as whether to purchase food or medicine, food or heat, food or textbooks.

Nationwide, the number of Americans living in poverty has increased. Over the last five years, the Oregon Food Bank Statewide Network, of which FOOD for Lane County is a member, has seen an increase of 50 percent in the number of emergency food boxes distributed. Additionally, our network continues to do outreach and program development, creating and enhancing services to many previously underserved areas of our state.

Last year in Lane County, one in five residents obtained food through one of FOOD for Lane County's programs, services or member agencies; almost half of them were children.

While Oregon has made some recent gains, the downward shift in our hunger ranking also reflects the rising need in other states, causing some to pass us in this distressing race to the bottom.

Unlike utilities, housing, health care and other basic needs, food is a flexible item in a household's budget. Many people try to save money for other necessities by using emergency food services or by going hungry.

Oregon's food stamp participation rate grew by well in excess of 70 percent from 2000 to 2005. This means that more cash-strapped Oregonians can stretch their dollars to cover other basic needs without having to sacrifice as many meals.

Proposed federal cuts to vital support programs - especially those cuts targeted at food stamps, Medicaid and other safety net programs serving low-income households - would make things worse and cause increased hunger, erasing the gains we've made so far.

To see a true drop in the number of people needing food assistance, we must work together to create a stable economy for more Oregonians, bringing incomes in line with the real costs of meeting basic needs.

Food stamps remain a critical source of support for low-income families; 80 percent of the benefits go to families with children. The food stamp program gets food to the people who need it in a dignified way: buying it at their local grocery stores and markets.

The buying power of food stamps, which spend like cash for food at the grocery, strengthens local economies to the tune of nearly $48 million annually in Lane County alone. Everyone realizes the economic benefits of food stamps, from grocery store owners and farmers to the people they employ and their shoppers.

We know that for 65 percent of Lane County food stamp recipients, food stamp benefits last two weeks or less. That is when many people turn to FOOD for Lane County's emergency food box program and meal sites.

The numbers are still high enough to be of concern. Even with the improvement, more than one in 10 Oregonians experienced difficulty purchasing food due to a lack of resources at some time during the year. We need to keep working to ensure that families reach economic stability - that they have the resources they need to meet all of their basic needs.

The fact that Oregon's hunger ranking has dropped significantly over the past year is indeed good news. But is it really acceptable to us as a society to have nearly 20 percent of our citizens - children, seniors and people with disabilities, as well as folks who are employed full time - still unable to meet their basic human needs?

Until we achieve systemic economic change on a large scale, we must continue to work to raise awareness, remove barriers and increase access to a variety of helping agencies and services for low-income Oregonians. Continued success requires continued effort. This is no time to rest on our laurels, but rather a time to gain strength and inspiration from the hard work that has gone before to sustain us in the work ahead.

Pat Farr is executive director of FOOD for Lane County.