The Green Fork is the official blog of the Eat Well Guide. Click here to Find Good Food.

We’re excited to have a few new contributors here at the Green Fork, among them one LeeAnn Smith, a registered dietitian in private practice and a food and nutrition writer living in Los Angeles. She holds a BA in Nutrition from James Madison University and an MA in Public Health from UCLA. Studying food and health issues in Honduras and Mexico has deepened her understanding of our global food supply and sustainability. LeeAnn believes that safe and healthy food is a basic human right.

Unless you have been living on Mars, you are likely privy to the crisis of our country’s economy. Many individuals living on fixed incomes as well as families experiencing mortgage troubles, job losses and rising food costs are turning to the services of food banks, like Feeding America, to make ends meet.

The burden of an estimated 35.5 million Americans facing food insecurity is quickly draining food banks across the country. Darren Hoffman, Communications Director at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, explains that a huge surge in new clients- up to 50% in some areas- over the past six to eight months reveals the severity of the hunger crisis. While the LA Food Bank currently serves 675,000 individuals, the true size of the group in need is between 1.2 and 1.4 million. “This is the worst we’ve seen it in the history of the food bank,” says Hoffman who has worked at the LA Food Banks for over eight years.

Food banks are large emergency food collection organizations that mobilize community resources and distribute food to nonprofit agencies such as soup kitchens and food pantries, like SOVA in Los Angeles. SOVA Community Food and Resource Program operates three food pantries across the Los Angeles area in addition to providing assistance with government benefit programs such as the Food Stamps Program , now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The impact of the rise in food prices has rippled across the country. According to the Food Research and Action Center, home food costs rose 7.5% between August 2007 and August this year. The cost of certain food items rose drastically during this time period – prices of cheese increased by 12.6 percent and bread by 16.1 percent. This has left more vulnerable members of our communities needing to choose between paying for food or other vitals, like housing or medicine.

Not only are there more people needing emergency food, but the resources provided to the food banks by the USDA Commodities Program have decreased over the past five years.

Under the 2002 Farm Bill, the USDA commodities program provided the LA Food Bank with 25 million pounds of food. This amount dwindled to 9 million pounds in 2007.

In attempts to make up for this lack in resources the LA Food Bank has partnered with California Association of Food Banks. This has provided an opportunity to purchase second hand food in bulk at reduced costs to boost supplies. In addition, Central California farmers have been providing the LA Food Bank with produce items and though these foods have a shorter shelf life, they are improving the nutritional agenda of the food bank.

The 2008 Farm Bill will address the growing demands and food prices by increasing the annual funding for commodity purchases under the Emergency Food Assistance Program by $110 million in 2009. There is also a built-in cost of living adjustment to deal with the issue of rising costs. Though this is a crucial improvement in support for the Food Banks, Hoffman explains it will be a while before the resources filter through to impact the community.

If you would like to get involved on a local level, you can make a nonperishable food donation to your local food bank, donate your time or make a monetary contribution.