Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has this challenge for Salt Lake County Attorney Sim Gill: Put your food donations where the hungry mouths are.

Gill's response, in so many words: Bring it.

Whichever of the state's leading prosecutorial offices accounts for the most donations by December 8 has 2011 bragging rights. The Utah Attorney General's Office has won two out of the past three Utah Food Bank food drive fights, which together accounted for 12,718 pounds of donated and $7,030 in cash, which calculated to a grand total of 44,915 pounds of food.

But Shurtleff says he and his attorneys and staff aren't over-confident.: "No matter how many times you win there's always going to be someone trying to knock you down. [We] at the Attorney General's Office are committed to laying it all on the line this year to do more for Utah's hungry."

Gill, however, is determined to pull even with his food donation foes with victory in 2011.

"The Salt Lake District Attorney's Office accepts the challenge from Mark Shurtleff and we are ready for a food fight. We are not going to let him rest on his laurels," he says. "This is a great cause and opportunity for our agencies to come together to serve the needs of our citizens during this holiday season."

The rules for the competition allow one point for each pound of food collected and two points for every donated dollar. The winner is determined by the number of points divided by number of their employees in Salt Lake County, respectively.

To learn more about how you can support either of the offices in their Utah Food Bank challenge, visit one of these websites:

— For the Utah Attorney General's Office: www.utahfoodbank.org/virtual-food?Team=1865.

— For the Salt Lake District Attorneys Office: www.utahfoodbank.org/virtual-food?Team=1866.

According to the Utah Food Bank, one in 10 Utahns, and one in eight children, live below the poverty income level. And estimated 400,000 Utahns risk missing one meal every day, more than 134,000 Utahns receive food stamps and 63,000 eat dinner at a soup kitchen.

remims@sltrib.com