Food scarce for 1 in 5 people here, report says

By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Health Writer

As some service agencies in Hawai'i cope with people lining up outside their doors for food, an "embarrassing" report released yesterday said one in five Hawai'i residents lives in a household where food has been hard to come by.

Hunger is a serious problem that has been largely ignored in Hawai'i, according to advocates who gathered at a Hunger Summit at Central Union Church yesterday to highlight the problem and seek solutions.

The summit included the release of reports from the Department of Health and the Hawai'i Foodbank that for the first time document the extent of the state's problem.

University of Hawai'i political science professor George Kent called the situation embarrassing.

"Why should there be any hunger in Hawai'i?" asked Kent, who specializes in world nutrition issues.

Among the findings of the DOH survey:

• One in five (221,834) Hawai'i residents lived in a household where the food supply was limited or uncertain during 1999-2000.

• One in four (62,397) children age 14 or younger lived in such a household.

• Food problems affected more than one in four people of Hawaiian descent; one in four Filipinos; and one in two other Pacific Islanders compared with one in 10 Japanese or Chinese.

Joda Derrickson, executive director of Full Plate, Inc., which organized yesterday's summit, described what the report called "food insecurity" as "running out of food at the end of the month and not knowing where the food is going to come from."

"The problem is not going away," she said. "Despite the fact that we have more than $250 million in federal money coming in and the uncounted amount of money from the charities, we still have food insecurity. It's almost like a Band-Aid approach."

While statistics suggest that Hawai'i's problems are worse than the national average, Derrickson said Hawai'i is now one step ahead by having the reports that provide the data from which solutions can be driven. Full Plate also is Hawai'i's first coalition of anti-hunger advocates, who have the goal of making Hawai'i a hunger-free state.

And according to advocates, the need is as great as ever.

Food service agencies are overwhelmed, said the Salvation Army's Chad Buchanan. Hawai'i is facing a "triple whammy," he said, which is increasing the pressure on food providers.

First is the upcoming holiday season, which is always a busy time for welfare agencies. In addition, more than 800 Hawai'i families will face their first month without a welfare check in December. Those families have reached the five-year limit on welfare benefits established by the 1996 federal welfare reform law.

Add to that the economic woes in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, which Buchanan said resulted in a doubling of those seeking help — some who have never had to do so before.

The Salvation Army's food pantries have experienced nearly a doubling of demand, he said. One delivery of food that Buchanan expected to last one month was gone in two weeks, he said.

"We can't keep up with what people are asking us to help with right now," he said.

Reach Alice Keesing at akeesing@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.