It’s a new year, and many Tucsonans are looking for ways to lighten their post-holiday eating habits. Many others, however, are living with a different dietary problem: Hunger and food insecurity.
“Sometimes the holidays command a frenzy of giving, and then they end and things slow down. Hunger doesn’t go away because we had successful holiday food drives. We are so grateful for the holiday drives and rely on them, but the actual challenges we face are ongoing,” said Norma Cable, spokeswoman for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.
According to the American Community Survey, about 15 percent of the Southern Arizona population — nearly 190,000 people — are living with food insecurity. Food insecurity is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as “a lack of access to enough food for an active and healthy life for household members and limited availability of nutritionally adequate foods.”
“We see families who need to chose between paying their electric bill and buying the food they need, and that is where food insecurity comes in: They don’t know where their next meal will come from,” Cable said.
In hopes of helping to alleviate the ongoing problem, the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona is partnering with HSL Properties, Sun Tran and KGUN 9 On Your Side for the HSL Stuff the Bus Food Drive from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 12, at Canyon Oaks Apartments, 600 N. Pantano Road.
The annual event has raised more than 66,000 pounds of food and $22,000 since inception; this year organizers hope to surpass the 30,000-pounds of food collected in 12 hours last year, according to HSL Properties Vice President Lisa Rosenfeld.
“Over the holidays the Community Food Bank is really depleted because of such high demand, so we decided to do this food drive at the beginning of the year when the food bank shelves are empty and need to be replenished. Given that we manage and own apartment communities and have access to 10,000 households, that puts us in a great position to get support from residents and give back to the community,” Rosenfeld said.
Rosenfeld says the fact that the Community Food Bank distributes more than 63,000 meals a day to neighbors in need rallies businesses and individuals alike.
“There are a lot of worthwhile causes that we are engaged in throughout the community, but feeding families and children is just such a basic need that it really strikes a chord with us,” she said.
The mission also resonates with Beth and David Hargrove, owners of Rillito Nursery & Garden Center at 6303 N. La Cholla Blvd.
The Hargroves have been participants the Community Food Bank’s Super Citrus Saturdays — an effort to collect and redistribute surplus citrus — for the past four years.
Beth Hargrove said that the event provides a much-needed service for those who receive free citrus from the Food Bank as well as for Tucsonans who have excess fruit on their trees that will otherwise go to waste. More than 3,500 pounds of citrus were collected during Super Citrus Saturdays last year.
“Fresh fruits are healthier for you, and they are expensive so they are not always available to those in need. When fruit is available, it is much appreciated. This also helps our customers who have extra and don’t know what to do with it. Basically we act as an intermediary in the community between our customers and those who are most needy,” Beth said.
Donations of fruit can be dropped from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20, at Rillito Nursery & Garden Center or at Wells Fargo, 4669 E. Broadway.
Citrus donations will also be accepted in the week leading up to the Rillito Nursery collection, starting Monday, Jan. 15, Beth said.
“Last year our location brought in over 2,000 pounds of citrus, and we were so excited about that. As a small-business owner, I think it is very important to support the community I live in. Members of the community are the ones who support us, and shopping local is so important, especially with our food since it has a better chance of being clean and healthy for you. ... This is as local as you can get,” she said.
