This week is National Farmers Market Week, as fresh jams, jellies, fruits and vegetables draw thousands of people to more than 8,000 farmers markets across the country.
The gatherings foster a sense of community and provide consumers with direct access to locally grown food and the markets serve another purpose: to feed those experiencing food insecurity.
Emily Weikert Bryant, executive director of the nonprofit Feeding Indiana's Hungry, said the organization and the agricultural community have partnered for many years in a shared mission to alleviate hunger.
"They're engaging with their regional food bank or their local pantries or participating in partnerships with their industry associations, like the Million Meals program we have with the Indiana pork producers," Weikert Bryant explained. "We're taking extra produce from their gardens to neighbors who need a little help. Farmers are often quietly working in the communities to alleviate hunger for our Hoosier neighbors."
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits can be used at Hoosier farmers markets, according to the Indiana Farmers Market. The Indiana Department of Agriculture reported there are more than 94,000 farmers in the state and 94% of the farms are either family-owned or operated.
The USDA supports National Farmers Market Week as a new opportunity for investing in local economies and providing an atmosphere for farmers to also directly connect with producers and consumers.
Jenny Lester Moffitt, USDA undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, said farmers markets play a role in what the agency describes as "direct farm to institution."
"Having farmers to be able to sell directly, farm to school, farm to hospital and even farm to food banks is a really critical thing," Moffitt emphasized.
Moffitt noted farmers receive seven times the food dollar at markets over selling into traditional market streams. She added the USDA has invested more than a billion dollars in local food purchase assistance for school programs to empower communities and states to be able to purchase more food.
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By De'Stani Clark for the Arkansas Delta Informer.
Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Arkansas News Service reporting for The Arkansas Delta Informer-Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation-Public News Service Collaboration.
Many working-class families in Arkansas are attempting to bridge the widening gap between income and expenses. So-called Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed families (ALICE), known increasingly by their acronym moniker, often must choose what necessities are crucial while hoping inflated food costs don’t weigh them down.
In 2022, Feeding America reported that 62 out of 75 counties in Arkansas are food insecure, meaning more than 467,000 of the state’s 3 million-plus residents don’t have enough to eat. Today, every county in the Land of Opportunity has at least one food desert, putting the state’s food insecurity rate at 15.5% , well above the national average of 10.4%. Experts say ALICE families, even those earning above the federal poverty line, still struggle to afford all their basic needs.
Despite those damning statistics, educators, healthcare providers, retail workers, and Arkansans that fit the ALICE profile still look forward to fostering healthy, happy lives for themselves and their families. Peggy Berry-Watson, a Maumelle local mother and community advocate, noted, “Food is an expression of love.” When asked what love looks like in a food insecurity environment for families in Arkansas, she replies, “A lot of planning and budgeting.”
Drawing from her extensive experience as an educator and as a mother raising three biological children along with thirteen godchildren and counting, Berry-Watson reflected on her journey of mastering the art of stretching the dollar. Despite facing initial obstacles such as childcare restraints and predating the current coupon regulations, Berry-Watson’s extreme couponing skills enabled her to slash a grocery bill from $1000 to just $150. While those specific deals may have faded, the lessons she learned— prioritizing seasonal purchases, buying in bulk, and fostering community collaboration—continue to guide her efforts today.
Nowadays, Berry-Watson devotes her time to volunteering at the Maumelle Food Pantry and advocating for legislative reforms across Arkansas. By strategically monitoring purchasing cycles for essential items and capitalizing on clearance sales, she maximizes savings in a manner that may seem daunting to many.
“American society keeps you at a pace where you can’t really catch up,” Berry-Watson explains. This has led her to recognize the importance of finding innovative solutions to alleviate the burden of daily expenses, particularly concerning food costs.
Reflecting on her experiences as a young mother, Berry-Watson shares stories of pooling resources with friends to address expenses collectively. From buying thirty freezer meals and organizing one cook day a week to purchasing half of a cow for family sustenance, these collaborative efforts alleviate financial strain and foster a sense of community. She said this ethos of communal support extends beyond individual households, which is evident in the rise of food co-ops, gifting networks, and astronomical expenses.
Food Deserts, Not Desserts
As the child nutrition expert for Hope Public Schools (HPS), Deanna Gilbert reiterates this call to action for families as she celebrates their ongoing efforts to provide for their loved ones. After thirty-seven years at HPS, starting as a substitute in the local cafeteria, Gilbert now manages and constructs a yearly budget that ensures all southwest Arkansas district schools provide students with free meals year-round.
“Every year is a challenge. We rise and we meet it,” asserts Gilbert.
Across the Land of Opportunity, this sentiment resounds in other rural and urban communities up to the governor’s office in Little Rock.
The Arkansas Governor’s Food Desert Working Group, organized in the spring of 2022, conducted research and proposed actionable steps for the state to eliminate food deserts. The recommendations address policy changes and community initiatives, providing models and funding structures deemed suitable for Arkansas.
ALICE is highlighted in the group’s recommendations to the Governor and the Arkansas General Assembly. Their 68-page report involves designating a food access liaison within the Governor’s Office, establishing a legislative subcommittee on food access, and creating a cross-agency, cross-sector Food Access Council.
Kenya Eddings, vice chair of the Working Group and executive director of the Arkansas Minority Health Commission, emphasizes that community involvement is critical to addressing food insecurity in Arkansas.
“While policy will help move the needle, the power of change lies within the community – within the people. There was community buy-in,” says Eddings. “Most of the successful models we studied and visited all arose from communities pooling resources and ideas to begin working towards solutions.”
The Working Group’s proposal urges cities, towns, and municipalities to target food deserts locally to cultivate statewide efforts. The working group also recommends mobilizing community-driven, creative models tailored to the county to increase food access. Local leaders who have seen this impact firsthand are answering this call to action. Strong community partnerships are essential to ensure sustainable initiatives directly benefiting ALICE households.
The work completed with the Working Group revealed that barriers to food access include insufficient grocery stores in low-income communities, affordable fresh food options, increased food costs, limitations on qualifying for SNAP or other government subsidies, limited storage capacity in homes or facilities for unhoused people, limited funding and storage capacity at local food pantries, lack of transportation, and lack of knowledge in cooking or preparing fresh food.
Meanwhile, the Arkansas Food Bank (AFB) sustains a community-driven approach, supporting 300 partner-led pantries in 33 counties. Sherri Jones, the food bank’s chief program officer, views this as one of its most successful initiatives.
“It’s a very collaborative effort to make sure that everyone is taken care of. Those churches and soup kitchens know who in their community needs the services, so there are boots on the ground. And if it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be able to distribute any food,” says Jones, adding that the food bank provides fresh food and sends it to the pantries for distribution.
Like many food access organizations across the state, the Little Rock-based food bank is no stranger to the food access barriers identified by the working group. The help of volunteers allows the AFB to implement additional initiatives like the Pop-Up Pantry or the Senior Delivery Service. For example, AFB is trying to open more pantries within Lee County.
Mobile delivery trucks “act as a band-aid until we can get that really good program up and running as we prioritize making sure that the community is served,” says Jones.
Jones notes that the Working Group’s recommendations extend to improving access to state food benefit programs, such as SNAP and WIC. “The application process can be cumbersome,” she states, adding that technical advancements are suggested to simplify application and recertification processes.
These improvements will likely bridge the gap between SNAP and WIC enrollment at 66% and 49%, respectively. She said the Arkansas Food Bank continues to fortify its mission by employing a liaison to assist families with the application process.
Hungry Kids Can’t Learn
Notwithstanding, not all ALICE families qualify for state food benefit programs. Limited access to healthy, nutritious food is linked to food insecurity, which affects more than 130,000 children in Arkansas. When considering these facts, Eddings, Gilbert and Jones reiterated the same sentiment: “Hungry kids can’t learn.”
Gilbert said she is driven by shaping students’ relationships with food and adjusting to their needs. She said some children have become disconnected from food, leading her team to encourage food education in and outside the classroom.
For example, students can observe the honey-making process at a local bee farm, egg hatching in the classroom, or attend a local health fair. Gilbert understands it may take an additional program, a smiling face, and the initiative to talk with students shying away from their food. “I love impacting lives – teaching kids. (We) might not be able to reach but two or three a year about eating healthy and exercising, but that’s more than there was,” she said.
“I think it’s important to offer as healthy meals as we can, but still keep along the lines of what is trending in eating and be able to have access to the foods that we know they’re going to eat,” states Gilbert. She said these strategies may entail allowing the smell of fresh cinnamon rolls to roam the hallways or providing ample fresh fruit to keep the students excited and engaged.
Meanwhile, the Hope Public Schools Summer Cafeteria Program pops up at various locations around the Hempstead County community and is available to any student 18 and under with a student ID, including those from neighboring school districts. Recently, Gov. Sarah Sanders announced that Arkansas will participate in the summer EBT program, giving children access to healthy food when school is out.
“It is known that for some children, meals eaten at school are oftentimes the only access to food for the day,” Eddings says.
The Working Group, signed into law by Sanders’ predecessor, former Gov. Asa Hutchinson, intentionally developed the report so that some community-level recommendations could be implemented immediately. At the same time, other proposals will take time to gain momentum; many communities are working to get there, and other organizations are already on the right track, Eddings said.
All ALICE individuals and experts agree that the urgency of addressing food insecurity in Arkansas is not just a responsibility of policymakers and organizations – it’s a call to action for every citizen. Eddings notes citizens can make a difference by fostering empathy, reducing stigma, and actively engaging with local groups. Whether working collaboratively or creating their initiatives, the collective effort of the community – the people – will propel Arkansas forward in the fight against hunger.
For Berry-Watson it is more personal. “Whether you go to Kroger, or Walmart, or to the tin box or the food pantry, if you’re feeding your children, then there should be no stigma,” she concludes.
De'Stani Clark wrote this article for the Arkansas Delta Informer.
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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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