Empty plates depict hunger in Utah

Downtown workers headed into Starbucks for their morning cup Tuesday found themselves staring at a powerful reminder that not everybody can afford that $2 cup of coffee or $4 latte.

The 218 empty dinner plates standing on the Gallivan Center lawn each represented 1,000 Utahns who live at or below the federal poverty level, joining more than 38 million people — including 14 million children — living in poverty across the country.

The exhibit was part of Utah's efforts to mark National Hunger Awareness Day and encourage support for the Utah Food Bank's summer food drive.

"Hunger is a result of poverty," said Gina Cornia, executive director of Utahns Against Hunger. "It's not that there's not enough food to go around, it's that people don't have access to the food."

Utah has the fifth highest rate of food insecurity in the nation and the 10th highest hunger rate.

The numbers are surprising, Cornia said, considering Utah residents are known for their generosity. Utahns tend to give heartily during the holiday months, she said, but donations slow down in the summertime when they're needed the most.

"The demand for emergency food spikes in the summer," Cornia said.

Local businesses and organizations can help fill the gap by participating in the summer food drive, said Jim Pugh, executive director of the Utah Food Bank. The drive was jump-started Tuesday with a $15,000 donation from Albertson's and two truckloads of breakfast cereal from Smith's Food & Drug Stores.

Other companies pledged Tuesday to continue their past support of the food drive, such as Fidelity Investments, which gathered 1.5 million pounds of food last year.

"It has galvanized our employees around a single cause of eliminating hunger in Utah," said Charlie Lansche, Fidelity's director of public affairs. "Hunger is a real issue in our state. But the good news is we can do something about it."

Everyone, whether they work for an area business or want to gather food on their own, can contribute to the summer food drive, Pugh said.

"Make a difference in your own way," he said. "Find a way to get involved."

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