Eating is complicated without a home

South Park Studies: Homelessness

LEARN

Last week, during National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week, more than 700 community organizations hosted events to raise awareness about homelessness and hunger. For people without a home, eating is complicated. This piece from Civil Eats delves into the food safety, security, and storage challenges homeless individuals face, and some of the programs that can help — like California’s CalFresh program.

For the Homeless, There’s More to Eating than Food
Civil Eats, May 28, 2018

If you’ve ever lived on the street or in your car, or have suffered any other kind of itinerant existence, you will know there’s more to feeding yourself than not starving. There is, for instance, the question of whether the food you manage to scare up is fresh, clean, and, in some cases, sufficiently cooked to not infect you with any number of foodborne illnesses, from salmonella to hepatitis A. Then you have to worry about whether, even if the food is safe, your hands are not. Hand-washing has been found to reduce gastrointestinal illness by as much as 31 percent.

Complicating matters even more, you might have a diet-related illness: type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure or the inability to digest certain foods. You might have lost many of your teeth — people who live on the street have scant access to dental care — which rules out that fresh, crunchy carrot. And you might have to limit your food choices to what’s on the shelves in a convenience store. When you’re carting everything you own with you everywhere you go, a trip inside a grocery store means finding a place to stash your gear and pray that no one swipes it.

Read the full article here.

GET INVOLVED

In downtown Los Angeles, The Midnight Mission is one of the organizations on the front lines. The Mission serves almost a million meals a year to homeless Angelenos. Learn more about their work, and their recommendations for people who want to help.

If you want to help out this Thanksgiving, the Turkey Trot LA benefits The Midnight Mission. After your run, you can head over to The Regent theater, where Gobble Gobble Give will be accepting food donations and packing meals starting at 10 AM.

ABOUT

South Park Studies is a new initiative designed to bring you news and resources on the topics we hear questions about the most — homelessness, daycare and school availability, transportation, and more. Each topic, starting with homelessness, will consist of a multi-week series of article recommendations, volunteer opportunities, and more. Learn more about South Park by visiting southpark.la.