WASHINGTON, N.C. -- Rural communities across North Carolina are working to meet the rising needs of residents who are unable to access healthy food as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

Many already grappled with longstanding health inequities before COVID-19, but local groups have stepped up efforts amid the public-health crisis.

Bill Booth, executive director of the Alpha Life Enrichment Center in Beaufort County, said most of the farming done in the area involves row crops -- like corn, soybeans and tobacco -- rather than fresh vegetables that residents can access locally.

Instead, most live in so-called "food deserts" with limited options for grocery shopping. Booth added that more than 32% of Beaufort County's population lives in poverty. His organization is spearheading an effort to build a community food co-op in the town of Aurora.

"In the next couple of weeks, hopefully, we'll be able to go in and begin to transform that building into a cooperative grocery store," Booth said. "We'll be working with the local growers in the area."

The group also is providing regular meals to front-line health-care workers at Vidant Beaufort Hospital, and has donated personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies to local emergency hunger-relief groups.

In Halifax County, Chester Williams of the group A Better Chance, A Better Community (ABC2) said while workshops and community dinners have been canceled, some residents are growing their own food in response to the pandemic, using gardening starter kits provided by his organization.

As ABC2's founder and CEO, he's convinced that the coronavirus is changing how residents think about health and access to fresh food.

"We have a young person that started a salad garden, and now, they have salad they can eat with their family," Williams explained. "So, it's going through different conversations and different actions of change. Not relying on other but relying on yourself -- and then, interdependent in our community to sustain ourselves. "

According to 2019 data from Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, more than 12,000 in Halifax County are considered food insecure, a number that is expected to increase because of the pandemic.

More information about these and other local efforts to improve food security is online as part of the Healthy Places NC Initiative on the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust website.



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Food Bank of Northwest Indiana is facing a surge in demand for food assistance, despite the end of the pandemic.

The facility serves about 60,000 people monthly in Lake and Porter Counties.

Victor Garcia, the operation's CEO, said food banks operate differently from food pantries and soup kitchens. Food banks source food through donations, government programs and bulk purchases to supply local agencies.

"If you think of that food pantry at your local house of worship as a grocery store, and you think of a soup kitchen as a restaurant, our core business as food banks is to be the supplier to those agency partners," Garcia explained.

Garcia pointed out before the pandemic, the food bank conducted two mobile distributions weekly, serving about 4,000 people a month. During the pandemic, this spiked to six distributions weekly, serving 14,000 people.

According to the nonprofit group Feeding Indiana's Hungry, one in seven Hoosiers is food insecure. The group also reported the hunger rate for children in Indiana is even higher at one in five or worse in 38 of Indiana's 92 counties.

Garcia noted to meet demand, his facility currently maintains five distributions each week and serves about 12,000 people each month.

"The increased cost of product is creating significant impacts," Garcia stressed. "While we're looking for donated food as much as possible, we are buying more food than we ever have as a network to meet the increase in demand."

The food bank relies heavily on community donations and volunteer efforts. Garcia emphasized every dollar donated provides three meals, and volunteers are essential, with 7,200 individuals having volunteered last year alone.


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With school cafeterias closed for the summer, community groups and nonprofits are working to ensure that Colorado's one in five children who go without food because their family can't afford groceries can still get nutritious meals.

Kristen Collins, executive director of Colorado Food Cluster, said because rural families have longer distances to travel for in-person summer meal sites, her group is now delivering boxes of food directly to homes.

"The box includes seven days worth of breakfast, and seven days worth of lunch," she explained. "All of those meals are shelf-stable, so you'll get tuna packets, chicken salad packets, Goldfish, juices."

Collins said she expects to serve meals to 1,800 low income kids across 20 rural counties this year. Last year, Congress exempted rural areas from rules that require summer meals to be eaten at a specific site, and there are now "to go" options available outside metro areas as well.

To find a summer meal, visit KidsFoodFinder.org, or text the word "Food" or "Comida" to 304-304.

Participating community recreation centers, libraries, churches and other sites across the state are also serving free breakfast, lunch, snacks and supper to Colorado youths all summer long.

Justice Onwordi, impact director with Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger, said anyone 18 and younger can share a meal with friends.

"You don't have to be enrolled in any school, you don't have to be enrolled in any type of federal or state programs. It's for anyone and everyone, and you don't even need a proof of ID or anything like that. You can just show up to a site," said Onwordi.

All locations are required to meet federal nutrition guidelines. Many offer fun activities for kids and teens designed to exercise both minds and bodies, to help make sure kids are healthy and ready to learn when they head back to school in the fall.

One proposed version of the next Farm Bill, introduced by the Republican chair of the House Agriculture Committee, would cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by $30 billion over the next decade.

A competing Senate version introduced by the Democratic agriculture committee chair would keep benefits intact.

Carmen Mooradian, senior public policy manager for Hunger Free Colorado, said access to the program is not a partisan issue and it affects rural and urban families.

"SNAP is one of the most effective federal programs that exists to combat food insecurity and poverty," Mooradian asserted. "It's something that is used by Americans throughout this country to weather life's storms."

The House version removes a provision added to the 2018 Farm Bill which allowed benefits to be calculated in a way to consider the most current nutrition science and actual retail food prices. According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, removing the provision would cut benefits in Colorado by $380 million.

Cutting food benefits may save money in a fiscal year but Mooradian argued it will cost taxpayers far more down the road in health care and other costs associated with poor nutrition. She added the program also contributes billions to state and local economies.

"Every SNAP dollar is returned into the economy," Mooradian pointed out. "It turns into profits for local businesses, for agricultural producers. When we stop investing in SNAP, those communities miss out."

Lawmakers extended the existing Farm Bill last year after failing to agree on a new version. The extension expires at the end of September, weeks before the General Election. Mooradian added there is still time for constituents to tell their representatives in Congress what they think.

"This is the opportunity for the community to really weigh in about the two proposals that are on the table," Mooradian urged. "And the impact that they will have on households if they pass."