|
May 15, 2007 - The Associated Press
Hungry for Help
Louisiana's food banks asked lawmakers Tuesday to use $15 million in state surplus money to buy food for the poor, another in a long list of requests to the House Appropriations Committee.
"We are facing a hunger crisis here in this state," said Natalie Jayroe, with Second Harvest of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana, which serves 23 south Louisiana parishes.
Representatives of the Louisiana Food Bank Association said food costs have gone up, the number of needy state residents has increased since Hurricane Katrina, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reduced the free food it provides to the state.
The food bank association proposes using state dollars to buy food from Louisiana farmers, fishermen and vendors — so the money would help feed the poor while also helping Louisiana food growers. The money would buy 15 million pounds of food, the association estimates.
The state currently doesn't provide money to the local food banks.
Rep. John Alario, chairman of the House committee, said lawmakers would like to help the food banks and would "crunch the numbers" to see how much money they could offer. The committee is combing through many requests for funding. The state has more than $2 billion in unspent cash from the last and current fiscal years.
|
