Ten years ago, Oklahoma was the 12th-worst state in terms of hunger and food insecurity. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest statistics, we are now only six states from the bottom of the pile.
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In Oklahoma, 14.6 percent of the population — around 518,000 people — is food insecure, which means that they don't always have money to put food on the table. Nearly one in five Oklahoma children is in danger of going to bed hungry each night. Across our state, families are being forced to choose between food and rent, utilities or medicine. Ultimately, this is an issue that affects the whole of Oklahoma's society.
As the directors of Oklahoma's two food banks, organizations that absolutely rely on community support in the form of donated food, dollars and volunteer hours, we have seen the growing determination of Oklahomans from all walks of life to fight hunger in our state. In 1997, the food banks distributed more than 14 million pounds of food to Oklahoma's charitable community. This year, we are on pace to distribute 33 million pounds of nutritious food, all thanks to the help of a projected 20,000 volunteers.
Oklahomans have realized that hunger is hurting their neighbors, from the little girl who gets second helpings in the school cafeteria because it is the only meal she will eat that day to the senior citizen who has to make a choice between buying food and diabetes medication. Seeing this need, many Oklahomans have rolled up their sleeves, filled up their grocery carts and opened their wallets to help. Despite this outpouring of energy and compassion across our state, though, Oklahoma's hunger problem keeps getting worse. This is a tragedy. Why is Oklahoma one of the hungriest states in America, and how can we turn things around?
There is a bill before the state Legislature that would help us find the answers to these disturbing questions. Senate Bill 499, co-authored by Sen. Andrew Rice, D-Oklahoma City, and Rep. Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, would create an Oklahoma Task Force on Hunger designed to develop a diverse and innovative set of strategies to fight hunger in Oklahoma. This task force would include the secretary of health, the Department of Human Services director, the commissioner of health, the commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, the director of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, the state schools superintendent and a host of faith-based and nonprofit organizations. Together, they would craft a broad range of recommendations to move us toward the goal of eliminating hunger in Oklahoma.
Amid such pastures of plenty, there must surely be ways to ensure that everyone has the food they need to lead healthy and productive lives. It is our hope that the Legislature will take this opportunity to search for the solutions, by supporting the creation of an Oklahoma Task Force on Hunger.
Bivens is executive director of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. Waggoner holds the same position with the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma.
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