What is food insecurity? Food insecurity describes a household’s inability to provide enough food for every person to live an active, healthy life. Food insecurity is one way we can measure and assess the risk of hunger. In the United States currently, 1 in 9 people struggle with hunger. In Sonoma County, 1 in 6 people struggle with hunger.
What causes food insecurity? One "bad month" can be enough to plunge a household into food insecurity. Lay-offs at work, unexpected car maintenance or an accident on the job can suddenly force a family to choose between buying food and paying bills. Working families across America face countless situations that can result in food insecurity and hunger. That’s why many working families, including thousands of households who don’t qualify for federal nutrition assistance, depend on the efforts of local food banks to help make ends meet during difficult times.
What are the effects of food insecurity? Food insecurity can have a wide impact, depending on each individual’s circumstances. Some of the most common, yet complex, effects of food insecurity include: serious health complications, especially when people facing hunger are forced to choose between spending money on food and medicine or medical care; damage to a child’s ability to learn and grow; and difficult decisions for seniors — often living on fixed incomes — such as choosing between paying for food and critical healthcare.
Contact Cassidy Jourdan for info: 707-523-7900 ext 178 | cjourdan@refb.org
What is a food bank? A food bank is a non-profit organization that collects and distributes food. At the Redwood Empire Food Bank, food is distributed to the community two ways; 70% is distributed through the Redwood Empire Food Banks’ 12 innovative hunger-relief programs and the remaining 30% is distributed through the Redwood Empire Food Bank’s 170 partner organizations in Sonoma County and throughout our service region. Food banks in the U.S. are very diverse – from small operations serving people spread out across large rural areas to very large facilities that store and distribute many millions of pounds of food each year, and everything in between. A variety of factors impact how food banks work, from the size of the facility to the number of staff members. But, one thing all food banks have in common is that they rely on donors and volunteers to carry out their day-to-day operations. Where does the food at the Redwood Empire Food Bank come from ? 55% Donated fresh produce 17% Donated groceries 10% Purchased wholesale 15% USDA Commodities <5% Community Food Drives How does the Redwood Empire Food Bank help? The Redwood Empire Food Bank is a resource for anyone who needs food, and we mean anyone. As we learned above, Food insecurity describes a household’s inability to provide enough food for every person to live an active, healthy life. If you are wondering if you meet the qualifications to receive food from the Redwood Empire Food Bank, you do. Please join us at a distribution site to receive staple food items and fresh produce. The Redwood Empire Food Bank doesn’t require proof of income for someone to receive food.
To find out where our daily distribution sites are, please visit getfood.refb.org. Contact Cassidy Jourdan for info: 707-523-7900 ext 178 | cjourdan@refb.org