Los Angeles County food banks have been forced to cut back what they offer to the needy and some have turned people away as an increase in food supplies has not kept up with a growing number of clients, says the Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank has raised the volume of distribution by 62 percent in the past two years with help from the U.S. Agriculture Department, grocery stores, and local food drives.

But the number of county residents served monthly by the network’s 500 pantries reached 284,000 in the second quarter of this year, up 48 percent from the same period in 2008, forcing some charities to reduce the size of food packages or turn people away empty-handed.

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