SU Ag Center hosting hunger and poverty summit

The Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center will host a Hunger and Poverty Summit held on Hunger Awareness Day, Tuesday, June 5, 2007, in the studio in Ashford O. Williams Hall, B.A. Little Drive, from 9 a.m. – noon.
 
The magnitude of hunger and poverty within our state has drastically increased since hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The Baton Rouge area has experienced a 65 percent increase in the need for food assistance in people serviced through pantries and a 50 percent increase in pounds of food the Baton Rouge Food Bank has distributed.

The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, Forum 35, Louisiana State University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, and Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center have formed the Louisiana HUNGER Coalition to address the needs of the hungry in our community.

The Louisiana HUNGER (Help Under-nourished Neighbors Get Essential Resources) Coalition urges residents to join them by taking an active role to find solutions to reducing hunger and poverty and improving the lives of needy neighbors in Louisiana.
 
The coalition invites educators, federal and state government, and community and foundation leaders and national and local nonprofit organizations to join the public issues discussion to:

• Explore hunger and poverty in Louisiana and Baton Rouge
• Identify steps to break the cycle of hunger and poverty
• Strategize for long term efforts to address hunger and poverty