L.A food banks witness unprecedented surge in demand

food banks in los angeles are witnessing an unprecedented surge in demand the festive season and upcoming holidays have also compounded the pressure on food banks across america this report has the details take a look pre-pandemic we measure things in pounds and we were distributing uh about one and a half million pounds every week in and out of our distribution centers and now we’re running uh

four million pounds a week coming in and out of our distribution centers here in south la and in commerce and that’s 1. 45 percent increase in volume. job losses amid the pandemic have led to a massive increase in the number of people who are now reliant on food banks to

say that the food banks in the country are overwhelmed would be an understatement and with the holidays approaching the pressure has only multiplied lines of cars stretch for miles and volunteers barely get a second in between handing out food and loading forklifts los angeles has witnessed an unprecedented surge in demand for food aid since since march authorities have seen an increase in demand like never

before thankfully for food banks due to closure of restaurants they have been able to secure surplus food to feed the people of l.a fortunately there has been a lot of food available out there because with restaurants closing down schools you know hotels conventions that’s led to a lot of surplus food out that food banks around the country have been able to capture and deliver out things like produce and dairy and meat

items have been available so that that that has been great in allowing us to meet a higher demand volunteers don’t see the demand going down anytime soon but the news of getting vaccines soon has presented itself as a beacon of hope you know as the food bank looks to 2021

we’re expecting a continued high demand for food assistance it’s great that there’s news of a vaccine and that should improve things from a public health standpoint but we’re dealing with record unemployment here in l.a county not seen since the great depression for now however thousands of people in los angeles and across america continue to depend on such food banks for survival bureau report we on world is one co-presented by skoda simply clever