Blueprint offers sustainable solutions to food insecurity and serves as a national model

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- As we approach Thanksgiving and prepare for our annual feasts, more than 1.25 million people in Los Angeles sadly don't have enough to eat. To help understand the magnitude of the problem, that's nearly the population of Philadelphia. Children, workers, people you see every day are hungry - and the situation is getting worse as the unemployment rate continues to increase.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles is Fed Up with Hunger; and today it will unveil a Blueprint to End Hunger in Los Angeles.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Councilmember Paul Koretz, School Board Member Steve Zimmer and H. Eric Schockman, President of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, are scheduled to speak at the unveiling at The Jewish Federation's headquarters and announce ways in which they will partner with the Federation to realize the comprehensive, realistic solutions outlined in the Blueprint.

The Blueprint addresses sustainable food goals, presents achievable objectives for using resources that already exist, and proposes ways to eliminate the barriers to healthy food that affect too many in our county. One of the core recommendations of the Blueprint is that the County, City and LAUSD focus additional energy on hunger issues and better coordinate services. To that end, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Councilmember Paul Koretz and School Board Member Steve Zimmer will announce motions that each plan to introduce in his respective branches of government in support of these ideas.

"By pulling together disparate resources and engaging elected officials, we can make immediate strides toward eliminating hunger and food insecurity in our community," said John R. Fishel, President of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. "Now more than ever, we have a responsibility to help each other meet our basic needs."

The Blueprint, written by The Jewish Federation, in consultation with leading anti-hunger organizations from across Los Angeles, including MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, dovetails with the Obama Administration's pledge to end childhood hunger by 2015 and will serve as a model nationwide. A copy of the Blueprint will be available online at www.FedUpWithHunger.org and clicking on the "Advocate" tab.

The Blueprint outlines the ways local officials will work together to reverse some of the alarming statistics associated with this ever-worsening problem:

• Local food pantries are seeing a 50% increase in clients.
• More than 50 % of the people who are eligible for entitlement programs such as Food Stamps do not receive them.
• Only 10% percent of people who are going hungry everyday in Los Angeles are part of the homeless population.
• 50% of L.A. County seniors do not have enough money to buy adequate food.
• 25% of children in L.A. County are food insecure.

In response to this unconscionable, yet fixable crisis, The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles launched Fed Up with Hunger in September, an initiative aimed at ensuring that the county's entire population has enough to eat. The Blueprint to End Hunger in Los Angeles is a key component of that initiative, as is a new Web site that offers information to people in need and people who want to become volunteers and advocates: www.fedupwithhunger.org.

A panel discussion with activists and hunger leaders will immediately follow the press conference at 9 a.m. to discuss how to best implement the Blueprint's anti-hunger objectives.

WHO:        Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky
            Councilmember Paul Koretz
            School Board Member Steve Zimmer
            Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (invited)
            H. Eric Schockman, President, MAZON: A Jewish Response to
            Hunger
            The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles leadership,
            staff and supporters

WHAT:       The Blueprint to End Hunger in Los Angeles launch.

WHEN:       8:30 a.m.  - 9 a.m.   Press conference
            Monday, November 23, 2009

            9 a.m. - 10 a.m.      A panel discussion including, H. Eric
            Schockman, President, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger;
            Michael Flood, CEO, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank; Matthew
            Sharp, Los Angeles Office Director, California Food Policy
            Advocates and Gwendolyn Flynn, Director, Community Health
            Councils.

WHERE:      The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles
            Sanders Board Room
            6505 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles 90048

Fed Up with Hunger is a community-wide initiative to end hunger in Los Angeles through fundraising, humanitarian work and advocacy. Created by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Fed Up with Hunger, joins partners from communities all over Los Angeles in the effort to alleviate hunger and its causes. Our core partners include MAZON, A Jewish Response to Hunger, The SOVA Community Food and Resource Program of Jewish Family Service and The Board of Rabbis of Southern California.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles - L.A.'s largest Jewish nonprofit - identifies and funds social service, educational and humanitarian needs locally, in Israel and around the world.

SOURCE Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles

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RELATED LINKS
http://www.fedupwithhunger.org