skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump signs executive order banning transgender athletes from women's sports, directing DOJ to enforce; Educators voice concern for PA immigrant student protections; WA rent stabilization bills have huge public support; ME benefits from $2.2 billion in federal clean energy investments.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Nationwide protests erupt against federal policies, Indiana's EV infrastructure expansion stalls due to a funding freeze, and Washington state pushes for rent stabilization to combat rising housing costs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

During Black History Month, a new book shares how a unique partnership built 5,000 schools for Black students, anti-hunger advocates say ag communities would benefit from an expanded SNAP program, and Americans have $90 billion in unpaid medical bills.

Los Angeles tackles hunger with new Office of Food Equity

play audio
Play

Monday, November 11, 2024   

About one-third of the population in Los Angeles does not have reliable access to healthy food, so leading philanthropic organizations are teaming up with Los Angeles County to launch a new Office of Health Equity.

Data from the University of Southern California-Dornsife show food insecurity is up from 24% in 2022, linked to high food prices and the end of a pandemic-era boost in CalFresh benefits.

Paula Daniels, incoming executive director of the Los Angeles County Office of Food Equity, will head up the new office when it opens in January.

"We have a food-insecurity rate of about 30%," Daniels noted. "You have that, and yet you have that paradox that at the same time, we are right next to the largest agricultural-producing region in the country."

Market Match is a program helping people with CalFresh benefits afford more fruits and vegetables from local farmers' markets. The office wants to expand the concept to other public food programs such as meals for schools, seniors and people experiencing homelessness. They want to establish more mission-driven "food hubs," connecting smaller and mid-scale farmers to communities of need.

Daniels also wants to ensure public feeding programs can provide locally sourced, culturally relevant menus.

"In 2022, I was part of getting $100 million in the California budget to give to school districts so that they could buy more locally sourced climate-smart and fair-labor food and support smaller farmers," Daniels recounted. "If you take concepts like that, what can we do in L.A. County? "

The office will work to implement the multi-prong action plan developed by the Los Angeles County Food Equity Roundtable.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Smart agriculture began to emerge in the United States in the early 2000s, with the introduction of GPS technology, sensors and automated systems. (Kaspars Grinvalds/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Some experts predict arable land per person will shrink by two-thirds by 2050. To combat it, Michigan students are being trained in "smart" …


Environment

play sound

A new study by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality found nitrate levels have continued to rise across the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado lawmakers are working to ensure all Coloradans with health coverage for ambulance services are not hit with surprise bills or charged higher …


Some $45 million in tax credits for home energy and efficiency upgrades have benefited more than 21,000 Mainers, according to the Natural Resources Council of Maine. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Conservation groups in Maine are calling on the state's congressional delegation to protect federal funding for clean energy technologies. A new …

play sound

Atlantic menhaden weigh less than a pound and measure little more than a foot long but the small fish has big consequences for the Chesapeake Bay ecos…

Social Issues

play sound

In rural states such as South and North Dakota and large urban centers around the U.S., protests were held Wednesday amid fears about the first wave …

Environment

play sound

On the heels of a regulatory victory, utilities and various energy groups in Minnesota are expressing more optimism about the region's power grid - …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021