HUNGER CRISIS WORSENS UCLA STUDY FINDS 775,000 ARE 'FOOD INSECURE'.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Almost one in three low-income adults in Los Angeles County - about 775,000 people - is hungry or frequently at risk of going hungry, according to a UCLA report to be released today.

Researchers at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research said the problem is getting worse, and they conservatively estimate that about 160,000 children also go hungry on any given day in the county.

Among the major regions of the county, the Antelope Valley has the highest rate of ``food insecurity'' among low-income adults at 38.5 percent while the West Los Angeles area has the lowest at 22.5 percent.

The greater San Fernando Valley, the most populous of eight regions studied, has the highest number of low-income adults living with food insecurity - an estimated 129,000 adults.

``We have seen an increase in hunger and we're finding an increased demand for food assistance is occurring throughout Los Angeles County,'' said Michael Flood, executive director of the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, which distributes donated food to charitable agencies throughout the county.

``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. Part of what is causing the problem has to do with the high cost of living here, especially related to rents and housing costs.''

The report, which excludes children and the homeless, is being released today to coincide with National Hunger Awareness Day.

``It's just hard to see your kids crying and wondering where your next meal is coming from. It's a pain in your heart,'' said Yvonne Love, who was living with her husband, Duane Amos, near downtown when he was injured and unable to continue working as a truck driver supervisor.

For more than a year, Love said, she and her husband were lucky to afford fried bologna or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for their two young children.

The family was forced to move to a motel, where Amos' disability payments barely paid the rent. Love said she spent a long time navigating every social service agency to ensure that her growing children got enough nutrition.

``The kids would say they were hungry and that's when we would have to ask family or a neighbor for soup to feed them. There's a lot of families that were out there living the same way we were.''

Since them, Amos found work as a bus driver and Love has taken a job at the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission, one of the organizations that helped the family when they were jobless.

Barry Allie, 50, still relies on the shelter to help him out with food and has been doing better in recent years. But the jobless ex-veteran says he recalls a time he was forced to scrounge through Dumpsters looking for anything to eat, with his Social Security income not enough to pay his living expenses.

``I've had to dig through trash cans. I was just hungry.''

The authors of the new report found that local low-income families live with hunger or make daily decisions about whether to eat or pay for other essential needs such as shelter or clothing. Local social service providers said they observe the same things.

The report was compiled with data from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey. The report estimates that 214,000 low-income adults in the county suffer from hunger, and 561,000 more live at risk of hunger day to day.

The results of a follow-up survey in 2003 are not available yet, but researchers said preliminary findings show the problem is getting significantly worse.

Among the county's ethnic populations, food insecurity - defined as hunger or risk of hunger - among low-income adults is most common among African-American adults, at 36.1 percent; followed by Latinos, at 33.2 percent; Asians, at 25.4 percent; and whites, at 20.9 percent.

The report, funded by the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, found that people experience hunger throughout the county and not just in the inner cities.

``One of the things we saw is that no particular part of Los Angeles County seems to be free of food insecurity and hunger,'' said Charles A. DiSogra, an author of the report, a senior UCLA research scientist and director of the survey. ``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.''

Ken Craft, director of the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission in North Hollywood, said his shelter is full every night and the mission serves hot meals to people throughout the Valley at various parks.

``When they come to us, they always come hungry. We try to get them off the streets, serve them a hot meal and tell them they don't have to live on the streets. We have programs they can get into,'' Craft said. ``With the high cost of living, minimum-wage jobs, health care costs ... it's very difficult for families to make it.''

Los Angeles County, the nation's most populous, is home to about one-third of California's low-income adults, or 2.6 million. Low-income adults are 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.

DiSogra said only one out of four low-income adults in the county who report hunger receives food stamp assistance. To receive food stamps, a person must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident.

``There may be barriers that make it difficult for them to apply for food stamps,'' DiSogra said. ``There may be misperceptions that applying for food stamps would affect their residency status or ability to become citizens. The one out of four does not include undocumented aliens.''

The report recommends that outreach efforts be intensified to help people learn about and gain access to food banks and that the federal government increase its eligibility level to qualify for food stamps from 135 percent to 185 percent of the federal poverty level.

It also recommended that the state and county governments work together to fund increased food stamp outreach efforts and improve access to those programs by using more creative and culturally appropriate ways to deliver services.

Charlotte Lee, food stamp program director for the county Department of Public Social Services, said as a result of the report she was going to step up outreach efforts to more community-based organizations.

``I am alarmed that there are apparently so many hungry people who are not receiving food stamps,'' Lee said. ``We are trying to find more ways to reach eligible families.''

Staff Writer Ryan Oliver contributed to this report.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com

HOW TO HELP

To help the hungry, call the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank at (877) NO-HUNGER, or the San Fernando Rescue Mission at [phone].

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box, chart, map

Photo:

(1 -- color) As times get tougher, the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission in North Hollywood has become busier. The mission serves hot meals to people throughout the Valley at various parks.

(2 -- color) Nine-year-old Tiffani wipes up a spill Wednesday as her sister Yasmine, 4, watches. The girls were at the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission while their mother received emergency medical attention.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

Box:

HOW TO HELP (see text)

Chart:

HUNGER IN L.A.

SOURCE: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

Daily News

Map:

WIDESPREAD PROBLEM OF HUNGER

SOURCE: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research