SLS 21RS-883 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 77
BY SENATOR FRED MILLS
HEALTH CARE. Requests the Louisiana Department of Health to take immediate action
to share information, expertise, and resources in an effort to coordinate public, private, and
charitable sectors to abate hunger in Louisiana.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to take immediate action to share
3 information, expertise, and resources in an effort to coordinate public, private, and
4 charitable sectors to abate hunger in Louisiana.
5 WHEREAS, Louisiana consistently faces some of the highest rates of hunger in the
6 country particularly amongst children and seniors; and
7 WHEREAS, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, one in six
8 Louisiana households struggles to put food on the table; and
9 WHEREAS, the National Foundation to End Senior Hunger ranks Louisiana as the
10 second worst state for seniors at risk of hunger with twenty-four percent, or nearly one in
11 four, seniors facing food insecurity; and
12 WHEREAS, Feeding America estimates that one in four Louisiana children live in
13 households that are food insecure, and in several rural parishes one-third of children are food
14 insecure; and
15 WHEREAS, it is estimated that nearly one million Louisiana residents experienced
16 food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic; and
17 WHEREAS, a 2020 survey of Louisiana food banks revealed an eighty percent rise
18 in need above typical levels, with nearly forty percent of those clients brand new to the
Page 1 of 2 SR NO. 77
SLS 21RS-883 ORIGINAL
1 emergency food system; and
2 WHEREAS, while the number of COVID-19 cases are falling and vaccine
3 distribution is rising, this hunger crisis is not over and it is important for Louisiana
4 policymakers to join with local food banks and other community-based partners to ensure
5 that all Louisianians have enough food on the table to live healthy, hunger-free lives for the
6 duration of the pandemic, economic recovery, and beyond.
7 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
8 does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to take immediate action
9 to share information, expertise, and resources in an effort to coordinate public, private, and
10 charitable sectors to abate hunger in Louisiana.
11 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that on or before October 1, 2021, the Louisiana
12 Department of Health shall host a summit on this matter to gather representatives from a vast
13 network of expertise in one setting to ensure that proper attention is given to this crisis and
14 to chart a pathway forward to combat hunger in Louisiana by providing short-term food
15 relief while seeking long-term solutions that can be used as a national and worldwide model
16 of excellence.
17 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that on or before December 31, 2021, the Louisiana
18 Department of Health shall submit a summit recommendation report to the Senate of the
19 Legislature of Louisiana identifying the long-term actions being proposed by summit
20 participants to address the hunger crisis in Louisiana.
21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
22 secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Brandi Cannon.
DIGEST
SR 77 Original 2021 Regular Session Fred Mills
Requests the Louisiana Department of Health to take immediate action to share information,
expertise, and resources in an effort to coordinate public, private, and charitable sectors to
abate hunger in Louisiana.
Page 2 of 2