Community Food Security - read the Hunger Commission's food access study and download free food access study materials including curriculum for nutrition education workshops.

Other Food Sources (continued)

One of the most common options mentioned were food closets. In four out of five groups food closets in and around the area were mentioned as a food source that was regularly used each month, usually at the end of the month. There are 11 emergency food sites within the two communities that serve approximately 16,550 bags of food/meals each month. (This figure did not include emergency food sites that serve other zip codes, and may include double client representation). "It is good for the end of the month when not much money is left," said one participant when speaking about food closets. Out of the sixty-nine people that were surveyed, 56% percent said that they got food from a food closet at least once last year; and 48% have been using emergency food at least once a month. Fourteen percent of people surveyed said that they got food from a food closet 3-4 times a month last year, making a food closet or soup kitchen a regular food source each week. For many of the residents we spoke with, it was an increasingly common scenario that money was going to run out at the end of the month, and food closets were simply part of the monthly food budget. During a community input group one participant remarked, "No one in Sacramento should go hungry, because there are a lot of places that provide food. There is food here." Emergency food, originally intended to meet a need for food during a crisis situation, was perceived by some as a regular source of monthly food staples; a source which prevented people from being hungry in this community.

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