Op-Ed by Rep. Lois Capps on ‘A Place at the Table’ and Attacking Hunger

Rep. Lois Capps: Santa Barbara County a Model for Attacking Hunger

Despite our country’s great wealth and enormous resources, hunger and food insecurity issues are far too pervasive in our society. In fact, nearly one in four children and four in 10 adults live in food insecure households in Santa Barbara County.

While we are fortunate to have innovative community-based programs to feed our hungry friends and neighbors, the need is truly staggering. Yet, those startling figures are rarely talked about. But before we can truly address the problem of hunger in America, we all need to first acknowledge that it’s a problem.

This need for us to start the conversation on food insecurity in our community is why I recently hosted a screening of A Place at the Table, a documentary about hunger in America. Following the screening, a panel of local leaders discussed the magnitude of hunger in our community and some of the innovative ways we are trying to end hunger.