By Mary Hennigan for The Arkansas Advocate.
Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Arkansas News Service reporting for The Arkansas Advocate-Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation-Public News Service Collaboration.

More than 567,000 Arkansans — 18.6% of the state’s total population — know what it’s like to experience food insecurity and struggle to find access to healthy food.

Arkansas’ food insecurity rate in 2022 was the second highest in the nation, with only Mississippi in front by 0.2%. This top two pairing is not new, however, as Arkansas has trailed Mississippi for the last decade, according to Feeding America data released in May.

Feeding America was established as a national nonprofit in the 1960s and is part of a network that organizes with food banks and other meal assistance programs, including the Arkansas Food Bank. The nonprofit has mapped food insecurity data down to the county level for more than a decade; the most recent information reports findings from 2022.

The food insecurity rate in Arkansas has been steadily increasing since 2020, and the 2022 rate was the highest it’s reached in five years, according to Feeding America. Arkansas also ranked second nationwide for the highest food insecurity rate among children, with nearly one in four children lacking access to healthy options.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Brian Burton, CEO of the Arkansas Food Bank. “I can’t say I’m surprised because there’s been sort of a vortex of pressures and economic events … just the inflation that has put lower income families in a real bind in our country. They can’t catch a break.”

Burton said he thinks the increased food insecurity rate could be related to the rising cost of groceries and the loss of additional assistance since the COVID-19 public health emergency ended.

“I think we are a state that has under participated in public assistance programs,” Burton said. “We’re one of the lowest participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and that is self-inflicted harm.”

Last year the Arkansas Legislature approved a bill that raised the asset limit for SNAP, commonly referred to as food stamps, from $2,250 for most families to $6,000. This change expanded the qualifications for people in need, but not to its originally intended level.

The bill initially sought to raise the limit to $12,000, but sponsor Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, lowered it to have a stronger chance of approval. At the time, Dismang said he thought $6,000 was too low and discouraged poor Arkansans from saving enough money to become financially stable.

Having any SNAP asset limit is a barrier for folks, Burton said. He said he would rather see the limit be removed entirely so it wouldn’t be a “hindrance to someone who’s trying to move out of poverty.”

The existing limit is one feature that could stop someone who falls in Arkansas’ ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) population from qualifying for assistance. The ALICE population includes people with income levels too high for programs like SNAP, but they still struggle to pay for their basic needs.

The Feeding America report isn’t limited to people who fall below the federal poverty level; it includes others who have difficulties accessing healthy food. Burton said the study is self reporting, which means more Arkansans than the reported 587,000 could be food insecure.

County snapshot

Every county in Arkansas reported a food insecurity rate higher than the national average of 13.5%, which Burton agreed shows that the issue is not dependent on rural or urban settings.

Searcy County, located in north central Arkansas, reported the highest overall rate at 24.5%. 

Giezele Treat, director of the Searcy County Senior Center, was unsurprised to hear the county ranked first. 

“It’s just sad,” Treat said. “We’re a poor county.”

Located in Marshall, any resident older than 60 can visit the senior center to receive a meal, Treat said. A staff dietician ensures the meals are well balanced and nutritional. Menu picks can include hamburgers and beef stroganoff with accompanying vegetables and bread, Treat said.

Staff also dispatches meals to about 70 households in Searcy County through Meals on Wheels, Treat said. Both hot and frozen meals are available to people who meet homebound criteria, meaning they physically can’t get food for themselves.

Burton, who has worked closely with people experiencing food insecurity for nearly three decades, said the toll it takes on one’s body is visible.

“It ages a person — the strain, anxiety and stress that are created by that constant worry,” he said. “The result of years of poor diets and nutrition when someone does not have sufficient resources to buy healthier, more expensive food … you see that shorten their life expectancy.” 

Phillips County, located along the state’s eastern border, reported the highest rate of food insecurity among children with 45.8%, according to Feeding America.

Burton said children experiencing malnourishment are largely affected in the classroom.

“They are not as alert, their bodies are not developing to their potential, and it’s particularly harmful, I think, in the youngest years of physical development,” he said.

Feeding America also reported the food insecurity rate among Arkansas’ Black, Hispanic and white populations. The rates came in at 30%, 22% and 16%, respectively.

“One out of three of our African-American neighbors struggle with food insecurity,” Burton said. “That would be called an epidemic. It’s not just something that happened in the last year; I think this is a result of years and decades of people who have been marginalized, obstacles they’ve had to transcend and limited access to opportunity.”

Statewide efforts

Food insecurity doesn’t have a simple solution. Arkansas has a myriad of organizations and programs scattered across the state that help residents access food, including the Arkansas Food Bank and its participating pantries.

“It’s a complex problem, but we can all be a part of the solution,” Burton said. “We can all donate to our local food banks and our favorite charities that are doing heroic, life-changing work on the front lines.

Last September the Arkansas Rice Federation donated 240,000 pounds of rice to the Arkansas Food Bank. In November, Arkansas State University joined the fight against hunger and announced it partnered with Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry to provide beef jerky snacks to school children.

The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, a prominent food assistance nonprofit, addresses hunger by promoting nutrition education, securing funding, increasing out-of-school meal participation, advocating for food policy and more.

In January, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the state would participate in a federal food assistance program called the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer. The program provides students’ families with money for meals while school is not in session. It starts in June.

“That’s a bright spot on the horizon,” Burton said. “That’s work that our own [U.S.] Sen. John Boozman helped bring about. … It’s a brand new program that could bring tens of millions of dollars into the state if everybody would participate in it.”


Mary Hennigan wrote this article for The Arkansas Advocate.


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North Dakota is expected to rejoin the debate over whether all school children, regardless of their family income, should have access to no-cost meals.

Universal lunch programs have been adopted by nearly 10 states, including neighboring Minnesota. A broad coalition of organizations gathered Thursday to push for adding North Dakota to the list. The federal government funds free or reduced-cost meals to income-eligible students. States with universal policies cover the remaining expenses so all kids eat free.

Michelle Wagner, child nutrition director for Bismarck Public Schools and legislative chair for the North Dakota School Nutrition Association, said working in a school cafeteria has opened her eyes about the need.

"As a food service director, we see firsthand that many of these students depend on school meals as their primary source of nutrition," Wagner explained.

The coalition said one in three North Dakota children relies on the Great Plains Food Bank, and many do not meet school meal eligibility requirements. North Dakota lawmakers temporarily boosted meal eligibility last session but advocates said wider permanent access is needed. A likely bill sponsor said there appears to be bipartisan support but expects pushback over cost concerns, even with a budget surplus.

Coalition members argued this type of move works as a tax cut, estimating North Dakota families would save more than $850 per child each year.

Robin Nelson, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of the Red River Valley, said by putting kids in a better position to learn, the state would also be able to address workforce shortages down the road.

"If I were a company that was trying to recruit employees, I would use this for anybody to move to the state," Nelson suggested.

Statewide polling in North Dakota has shown strong public support for expanded school meals. In Minnesota, policy observers said the state's program, approved in 2023, is proving to be popular but demand has been strong, elevating costs. Those behind North Dakota's effort said they hope lawmakers get a full scope of what is needed when they begin debating the issue.


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Congressional efforts to avoid a government shutdown could extend funding for SNAP, the program formerly known as food stamps. And if the continuing resolution introduced in the U.S. House this week is passed, SNAP participants won't go hungry if they fall victim to electronic theft.

Carmen Mooradian, senior public policy manager with Hunger Free Colorado, said the resolution extends protections from practices - such as skimming data from EBT cards, which function like debit cards - through September of 2028.

"This is when a device is placed on a point-of-sale terminal, and it's used to take that account information, and to clone it into a new card, that is then used to drain that person's account," Mooradian said.

Electronic theft protections were set to expire this Friday. Nearly one in five families with children in Colorado have gone without food because they can't afford it, and advocates are urging lawmakers to improve emergency food assistance programs by removing barriers such as additional work requirements; getting more eligible people enrolled; allowing participants to make their own healthy food choices; and increasing benefit levels to keep up with rising costs.

The minimum SNAP benefit is currently $23 per month, and the average SNAP benefit is $6 a day. Mooradian said lessons learned during the COVID public-health emergency show what's possible when benefits are increased.

"It can actually protect against food insecurity. People have access to healthier foods, because they can afford healthier foods," Mooradian added. "So, we need to make sure that we are moving toward more adequate benefits. "

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-CO, has introduced a bill that would allow people with disabilities or working multiple jobs to use SNAP to buy hot prepared foods at grocery stores. Mooradian said it's also important for lawmakers to remove additional work and other requirements for the 40% of community college students experiencing hunger.

"There are a lot of restrictions on student eligibility right now that make it harder for students to access this program. When students aren't focusing on having to feed themselves, they are actually able to do better in school," Mooradian added.

Several federal programs may face budget cuts as the new administration proposes sweeping actions to reduce the federal debt.

Advocates for the safety-net programs in Tennessee said cuts would jeopardize food access, health insurance and essential services for tens of thousands of people.

Signe Anderson, senior director of nutrition advocacy at the Tennessee Justice Center, said key decisions early next year will significantly affect funding for Medicaid, as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. She pointed out on average, about 750,000 Tennesseans per month receive SNAP benefits.

"Tennesseans will have less access to health care and to food," Anderson projected. "Programs that are in place now that offer health care to Tennesseans will become more limited - and the same with the SNAP program, will become more limited."

The Tennessee Justice Center hosts a free webinar today at 11:30 a.m. to discuss how groups across the country are organizing responses to potential cuts and their impacts on communities. More than 1.4 million Tennesseans are enrolled in Medicaid.

Anderson noted another federal program providing summer meals to hundreds of thousands of Tennessee children will expire unless Gov. Bill Lee renews it by Jan. 1, which he has indicated he does not plan to do.

The Summer EBT program provides families with $40 a month during the summer, for extra help paying for food when kids are out of school.

"DHS reported to USDA that nearly 700,000 children participated this past summer," Anderson emphasized. "Tennessee has been very, very successful in rolling out the program, and we're one of the only southeast states last year that participated."

Anderson stressed advocates for maintaining Summer EBT have delivered more than 2,200 signatures on petitions to the governor's office. She added more than $78 million in Summer EBT benefits also boost the local economy through grocery store spending.


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