Access to emergency food supply is expanded for Utahns

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake County's emergency food safety net will now include children up to age 6 and adults over age 60, under an expanded partnership of the Utah Food Bank, the state Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday.

More than 2,800 low-income Utahns will have access to emergency food supplies currently limited to only those in the USDA's Women, Infants and Children food supplement program. The Commodity Supplemental Food Program is targeting the age groups that are consistently showing an increasing need for emergency food but who have not been eligible for WIC.

The expansion will do much to quell what Utah Food Bank CEO Jim Pugh called "a staggering number of food requests every month."

More than 56 percent of people who received emergency food in the past year say they have, at least once, had to choose between paying for food and paying rent or their mortgage, Pugh said.

"No one should be forced to choose between such basic needs," he said at a Thursday news conference announcing the expansion. "This reality further underscores the importance of Utah's emergency food assistance services."

Expanding WIC takes advantage of the USDA's more streamlined approach of shipping food directly to the food bank. The joint effort will make more fruits and vegetables part of the usual supply of canned products, pre-packaged meals, cold cereal and dried milk.

The supplemental food program, which has an annual budget of $139,000 in Utah and is entirely federally funded, has been offered only in Bountiful, Ogden and Layton.

The additional nutrition safety net was deemed high-profile enough to warrant attendance at the announcement by Janey Thornton, deputy undersecretary for food and consumer services.

"The expansion takes advantage of the distribution network of the food bank and the agency's consistent hard work and partnering with various agencies to help serve hungry families and individuals throughout the state," Thornton said.

The health department estimates that 2,817 Utahns who are not currently eligible for WIC will be able to receive supplemental food through the expansion.

"We will be focusing our outreach efforts on trying to enroll those age groups," said Dr. Marc Babitz, director of family health and preparedness for the health department. "This is a group that currently does not have access to a supplemental food program, and we feel we can greatly improve their health."

Eligibility for the program is based on age, income and state residency. Applications must be made in person at a participating food pantry. More information is available by calling 2-1-1.

e-mail: jthalman@desnews.com