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Combating food insecurity helps farmers sell in Kentucky, as well
 


By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

FRANKFORT, Ky. —  For the first time since the Farm to Food Banks bill was enacted in 2009, Kentucky’s 2014 General Assembly funded the legislation that takes surplus produce considered “seconds” and unsalable from state farmers and makes it available to food banks in the commonwealth.
The program, established within the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA), has been active before now with the help of grant funding from organizations like the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board. But as September is being recognized as Hunger Action Month across the country, Tamara Sandberg, executive director of the Kentucky Assoc. of Food Banks (KAFB), said the need to fill shelves of food banks is still necessary.
“We were thrilled that the General Assembly included $600,000 a year for the two years of the budget for the Farm to Food Banks program,” she said. “We had supporters on both sides of the aisle really pushing for funding this great program.”
Sandberg pointed out there was much help from other organizations that worked to help get this funding passed, as well. Last year she spoke with legislators about the growing problem of hunger in the state and how the funds could not only help to get food to those in need, but act as another revenue stream for farmers.
Her efforts were well received, as the $1.2 million allotted for the budget cycle was actually more than requested. The language in the bill required $500,000 per year to be spent on the Farm to Food Banks program and $100,000 to be spent on the Hunters for the Hungry initiative, in which hunters can donate an animal to a processor who will in turn give the meat to the food bank system. This funding will help pay for a portion of that processing cost.
The money has been put to use almost immediately. Sandberg said $400,000 had been spent by July with some dollars left so farmers with cool-season crops can benefit from the program too.
“This funding about tripled the size of our program within one year,” she said. “And with the demand among farmers for a market like this to help move No. 2 grade products, clearly there is even more need than what the funding was able to provide, because I’ve had to start turning away farmers even with this significantly increased budget.”
According to the charity Feeding America, it is estimated more than 6 billion pounds of fruits and vegetables are wasted each year mostly because this produce is considered seconds or not sellable through retail outlets. The organization also noted 730,000 people in Kentucky, or one in six, don’t always know where they will find their next meal. Those statistics are even higher among the state’s children, at one in five.
The USDA released its latest data connected to food insecurity among Americans. The data showed 14.3 percent of U.S. households had difficulty at some point in the year feeding all members of the family due to a lack of finances or other resources.
Sandberg said there is a necessity from both those who need the food and those who grow it, for a program such as Farm to Food Banks. She also said while it may sound contradictory, obesity is a problem among those who suffer from food insecurity because more unhealthy highly-processed foods tend to be cheaper – and this program is meeting needs in that area, as well.
As for the funding, Sandberg said the KAFB is already thinking ahead about keeping this movement going. “Clearly there’s a need for this program, and it is such a worthwhile investment for the commonwealth to make,” she said.
“With so many great long-term impacts, we are already thinking of how we continue to build the momentum and make this program grow to the point that we think it can. Once people learn about the program and see the benefits, they are really quick to jump on, and I believe that is why it was successfully funded.”
This new funding has enabled the KAFB to work with 320 farmers in 62 counties. But Sandberg said she would like to see it grow, to make a bigger impact on those who need the food and for the agricultural economy.
Last year, the agency – which is comprised of seven Feeding America food banks that reach all 120 counties of Kentucky – distributed the equivalent of 44 million meals through a network of more than 1,000 charitable feeding agencies such as pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters.
9/12/2014