Thousands of Utahns must choose between buying food or paying rent, study shows

SALT LAKE CITY — More than half of the quarter-million Utahns who got help from local food pantries last year had to choose between buying food and paying their rent or mortgage.

And 42 percent of those receiving emergency food supplies are children, according to the most detailed survey ever completed on Utah Food Bank clients.

The numbers were released Tuesday as part of the nationwide Hunger in America 2010 report. It includes a detailed survey of 408 Utahns who received assistance from the Utah Food Bank last year, pinpointing demographics that put a human face on hunger in the Beehive State.

Jim Pugh, executive director of the Utah Food Bank, said the numbers of those who choose between food and rent, and the number of children who depend on emergency food assistance, surprised him.

"It's sobering to think there are that many people in our system who have families that are doing what they can and having to make those kinds of choices," Pugh said. "These are just basic things everyone needs to live. It demonstrates how core this issue of poverty and hunger is in our community."

The Food Bank collected and distributed about 22.5 million pounds of food through 125 food pantries statewide last year. Based on the increased demand during the past five years, officials believe they will need 29 million pounds of food in 2010, Pugh said.

That's up from a little more than 18 million pounds in 2006 — a 62 percent increase.

Nationally, the numbers are equally sobering. Feeding America, a coalition of 37,000 food banks that commissioned the report released Tuesday, shows 1 in 8 Americans now relies on its pantries for food and groceries.

The coalition is feeding 1 million more Americans each week than it was in 2006, providing food to 37 million people annually — including 14 million children. That's an increase of 46 percent from 2006.

The report includes data collected from February through June 2009.

"It is morally reprehensible that we live in the wealthiest nation in the world where 1 in 6 people are struggling to make choices between food and other basic necessities," said Vicki Escarra, president and chief executive of Feeding America. "These are choices that no one should have to make, but particularly households with children."

Pugh said one figure that did not surprise him but may come as a shock to many Utahns is that 23 percent of those getting help through the Food Bank are employed.

"We have a lot of working poor who are living paycheck to paycheck," he said. "With the high cost of living and low wages, it's very difficult for many families."

Though poverty and hunger are addressed through several federal programs, in addition to services provided by the Food Bank and faith-based organizations, "the increased numbers you're seeing tell you it's a growing challenge, not only locally but nationally," Pugh said.

Those who receive help from the state's food pantries must qualify based on federal poverty guidelines that state a family of four earning just under $24,000 per year meets the standard.

"Most local pantries will serve people who earn 150 to 180 percent of the federal standard," Pugh said.

The report shows 86 percent of local pantries receive food from local churches, congregations or religious organizations, and 75 percent benefit from Boy Scout food drives.

e-mail: carrie@desnews.com