Fighting to end hunger in Monterey County

Congressman Jimmy Panetta is helping raise awareness about the push to end hunger in Monterey County.

Congressman Panetta was the special keynote speaker at the Food Bank for Monterey County’s annual meeting Wednesday.

Congressman Panetta is a member of the U.S. Agriculture Committee and talked about the importance of food distribution, nutrition, and the goals he has for the county.

The Food Bank for Monterey County says the situation in the county is dire.

“At the food bank, we’re serving one in five in the county, over half of them are children so we have a chronic hunger problem here. We rank 58 out of 58 counties, dead last in food insecurity in this county,” said Melissa Kendrick, Executive Director of the Food Bank for Monterey County.

Last year, the food bank gave over ten million pounds of food to roughly 150 non-profit agencies in Monterey County alone.

The food bank holds the annual meeting to discuss better ways to feed as many hungry people as possible.