By RICK A. RICHARDS
Indiana Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — A perfect storm of economic hardship, reduced corporate giving and rising demand has left Indiana food banks struggling to serve their clients: That is the conclusion of a study by Feeding Indiana’s Hungry that shows one-fourth of all Hoosier children are living with hunger.
The annual study, Map the Meal Gap: Child Food Insecurity 2011, shows children are faced with hunger every day, said Emily Weikert Bryant, executive director of Feeding Indiana’s Hungry.

Results of a separate study, this one conducted by the Food Research and Action Center, show 26 percent of households in Indiana don’t have enough money to buy food they need for themselves or their family. The studies were released on separate days last week.

“The food hardship rate for households without children is far too high, but we can see that the situation for households with children is far worse,” said Bryant, adding that hunger is prevalent in all 92 Indiana counties – from a low of 17 percent in Hamilton County to a high of 32 percent in Elkhart County.
“Even the most positive number still indicates that a significant number of children are food-insecure in every Hoosier county, which is unacceptable,” said Bryant. “Certainly things haven’t gotten better. This has been the situation in Indiana since 2009. There has not been a tremendous amount of improvement.”

As demand has risen, Bryant said there has been less corporate giving from food providers. “We used to get a lot of ‘scratch and dent’ items that were fine for consumption, but the can or box didn’t look good on the shelf. Because the industry is much more efficient today, we’re getting a lot less of those donations.”

Bryant said Walmart and Kroger remain major donors and there has been an increase in private donations to buy food, but not enough to keep up with demand.

“The safety net has been stretched tight,” she said.

One thing different in 2011, she said, is many people visiting food banks are going for the first time and many are families whose breadwinner has lost a high-paying job.

“Folks are working, but are not able to survive on what they’re bringing home,” said Bryant. “They’re not able to make ends meet.”

Milt Lee, CEO of the Food Bank of Northern Indiana in South Bend, said the demand for food has risen 50 percent in the past year, but his resources to provide that food have declined by 38 percent. The Food Bank of Northern Indiana is one of a network of 11 food banks around the state operated by Feeding Indiana’s Hungry.

“Fortunately, the people in Indiana and the Midwest are a very giving people,” said Lee. “Food donations from individuals are up 18 percent and monetary donations are up 4 percent, but we’re still 20 percent short.
“We recently did a focus group of clients and eight out of 10 were first-time visitors to the food bank. They all said they never thought they would need help from a food pantry.” Of those, Lee said 90 percent have become volunteers at the food bank.

“These are people in situational poverty and hardship,” he said. “They used to work in manufacturing, in good-paying jobs, but they’ve lost their jobs.”
Lee said while there have been indications the economy is turning around, he doesn’t expect a major reversal for a long time. “I see a lot of false starts and a lot of uncertainty. I think we’re in this for the long haul,” he added.
He said the Food Bank of Northern Indiana has been fortunate to have a network of supporters such as the Indiana Pork Producers (IPP), who have made donating food a part of their philosophy.

“I’m really excited about what they do,” said Lee. “They have made providing food a part of their culture and it has really helped the people we serve.” Last year, the IPP provided enough meat to food pantries to feed 1 million people.
Feeding Indiana’s Hungry said the recent study will provide data to help it develop plans to direct eligible clients to food stamps or free or reduced-price school meals.

“This shows what the hunger relief community has known but could not quantify: That hunger is everywhere in our state and country, it is not directly related to poverty, but is more closely tied to unemployment and underemployment, a problem many Hoosiers continue to experience,” said Bryant.

The annual study by Feeding Indiana’s Hungry was supported by ConAgra Foods Foundation. Bryant said the foundation has a goal of advancing the understanding of child hunger in America so the nation’s resources at the local and national levels can be better used to help those in need.

In addition to the Food Bank of Northern Indiana in South Bend, other food pantries in the network are the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana in Gary, Food Finders Food Bank in Lafayette, Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana in Fort Wayne, Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana in Muncie, Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana in Indianapolis, Terre Haute Catholic Charities, Hoosier Hills Food Bank in Bloomington, Tri-State Food Bank in Evansville, Dare to Care Food Bank in Louisville, Ky., and Freestore Foodbank in Cincinnati, Ohio.