Humboldt Hunger Rises, Supes Proclaim ‘Hunger Action Month’

Screenshot of Food for People Executive Director Carly Robbins.

The director of a local food distribution group says that as local food costs rise, there’s also been a “huge increase” in the number of Humboldt County residents struggling to get enough food.

The prevalence of hunger in Humboldt was discussed when the Board of Supervisors proclaimed September as “Hunger Action Month” at its Sept. 9 meeting.

Doing so is an annual practice but with recent inflation and federal budget cuts, there’s a heightened sense of urgency.

“We are at a point where we’re anticipating a national crisis for hunger,” said Carly Robbins, executive director of Food for People.

Summarizing her group’s goals, she said emergency food response “helps communities affected from anything from wildfires and earthquakes to winter storms and road closures” and long term aid is provided “so hopefully, families don’t have to choose between rent and food or rent and medical.”

But those choices are becoming more likely as inflation forces them.

“Unfortunately, higher costs for gas, food, utilities, medical care, housing have had a sharp increase in food insecurity,” Robbins said. “In the last two years, we’ve seen a huge increase in Food for People. Many people are seeking food assistance for the very first time in their lives and we’re doing everything we can to meet the need but we can’t do it alone, which is why we appreciate you recognizing this as Hunger Action Month.”

Robbins said her group, through its main site in Eureka and “a network of partners” like the Humboldt Senior Resource Center, distributed 2.6 million pounds of food in the county last year, serving more than 21,000 individuals a month.

The network also includes schools and community resource centers, reaching every area of the county. Robbins said food services have recently expanded to Southern Humboldt locations like Alderpoint, Petrolia, Honeydew and Myers Flat.

Food for People development Director David Reed said hunger is a national and local issue.

“At a time when the cost of basic needs like groceries and health care is out of reach for millions, hunger in America is a crisis,” he said. “One in five kids face hunger and that’s more than 13 million children nationwide and almost 6,000 children here in Humboldt County – in some of our local school districts, more than 80 percent of kids qualify for free and reduced lunches.”

He added, “with recent national changes to food assistance for food banks and programs like SNAP and CalFresh, millions more Americans will soon face deep food insecurity.”

Supervisors acknowledged hunger issues, with Supervisor Rex Bohn saying, “there isn’t a member up here that hasn’t got a phone call asking ‘where can I get help.’”

Board Chair Michelle Bushnell noted the Food for People network’s reach to rural communities.

“I appreciate, especially in my district, the areas that you have gone that are very rural, Blocksburg and Alderpoint,” she said. “I have gone there on occasion just to see people and it’s very well anticipated and used, those folks sometimes don’t have cars, sometimes don’t have transportation and so it’s such a great service that is in those very rural communities.”

Read aloud by Supervisor Natalie Arroyo, the proclamation says 16.7 percent of the county faces “food insecurity” and almost 30,000 Humboldt residents are in the state’s CalFresh program, 26 percent of them children.

In declaring September as Hunger Action Month, the proclamation “encourages the community to learn more about hunger and take action to ensure that every Humboldt County resident every day has enough to eat.”