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# Hungry for food
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/hungry-for-food/
- Published: 2007-09-25T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T02:56:24.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Health, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Hungry families exist on Westside*

CITYWIDE The number of low income families suffering from hunger is on the rise in Los Angeles County and that includes the ritzy Westside.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health released a study on Friday that found food insecurity — a limited or uncertain means of accessing meals — is on the rise among the poorest households.

The report describes findings from two L.A. County health surveys conducted in 2002-03 and 2005, the results showing the biggest impact has been felt among those households earning below 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, which for a family of four, would be an annual income of approximately $18,000.

The increase in food insecurity was found to be greater for households with children than without. The study found that malnutrition in children can not only lead to developmental issues, but also contributes to poor performance in school.

“It’s shocking and sad that families with children are much harder hit,” said Susie Baldwin, chief of the health assessment unit for the county Department of Public Health. “It’s a few more mouths to feed and they’re feeding it.”

In 2005, more than 470,00 households living below 300 percent of the Federal Poverty Level — an annual income of $56,500 for a family of four — suffered from some form of food insecurity, whether they had problems accessing nutritional food or any type of meal at all. That’s a 17 percent increase from the results of the 2002-03 survey.

The causes vary, from the dramatic rise in gas prices — affecting public transportation fares — to increases in basic living expenses such as rent and utilities. The study cites a United Way report that found Los Angeles County has the least educated workforce in the nation, with many workers stuck in low-paying jobs.

The highest concentration of affected families were found in the southern and eastern portions of the county. The Westside reported the fewest number of low-income families having trouble affording healthy food.

Such residents on the Westside seem most impacted by the area’s infamous high rents and property values. Santa Monica-based Westside Food Bank has seen a gradual increase in demand from its clients by four to five percent every year during the past five years.

“The cost of living is so excessively high in this area,” said Genevieve Riutort, the director of development for the Westside Food Bank. “Those costs are going up for many people without having comparable wage increases and what we’ve noticed on the Westside is there are either a lot of high paying jobs or low paying jobs and not a whole lot of jobs in the middle.”

Serving clients in the Westside and Inglewood, the food bank serves about 82,000 clients every year, about half of which are children.

One of the biggest changes impacting families is the rise in grocery prices, particularly in corn, wheat-based products and milk, Riutort said.

Low income families aren’t the only ones having trouble putting food on the table.

Riutort said the food bank is going through hard times with the federal government cutting back on assistance. The Westside Food Bank, which spends about $7,000 a week just on produce, is stepping up its fund-raising efforts to fill the gap.

St. Joseph Center in Santa Monica has seen regular clients increase their visits to the non-profit’s food pantry. The pantry serves about 800 families on the Westside.

“It is really clear we’re living in an area that rental housing costs are just continuing to go up,” said Rhonda Meister, executive director of St. Joseph Center. “Food prices are going up and wages aren’t going up in a lot of cases.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 25, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/092507.pdf?ref=smdp.com)