KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. Share your story idea with Ryan.
—
On Tuesday, Harvesters — The Community Food Network received a $5,000 donation from Thermo King at the International Food Distributors Association Conference.
Thermo King created "We Move Food," a philanthropic program designed to create access to healthy food across the nation.
"We are so grateful for Thermo King and that they have made this gift for Feeding America," said Jillain Williams, director of philanthropy at Harvesters. "Gifts like this make it so we can put food on our neighbors' tables."
The donation will fund 10,000 meals provided through 27 counties surrounding the Kansas City area.
It comes at a critical time as food insecurity remains high throughout the United States.
"Last year, our statistics came out that 1 in 11 adults were food insecure and 1 in 8 children," Williams said. "Now, it is 1 and 8 adults and 1 and 6 children; food insecurity is the highest it’s been since 2014."
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reported that in 2021, 196,353 Kansas residents accepted SNAP benefits while 663,726 residents accepted in Missouri.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is funded through a reoccurring five-year omnibus package or the Farm Bill.
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 is $428 billion in federal funding, compromised of various conservation, research, and commodity programs.
The 2018 Farm Bill allots 76% of its funding to nutrition.
"SNAP benefits are crucial to people who are food insecure," Williams added.
Harvesters works with a wide variety of patrons, though not all accept government assistance for nutrition.
It offers SNAP assistance through its network.
"SNAP is the most efficient way to feed people who are insecure in America," said Sarah Biles, director of communications for Harvesters. "If there was any kind of cut to SNAP, more people would be coming to Harvesters and our network of pantries to get food is already tapped out."
Biles says the COVID-19 pandemic was a crisis of its own — food insecurity skyrocketed and has began to taper off.
Consumers are still facing inflated prices at the grocery store and SNAP ensures individuals are fed.
"For every one meal that we can provide, SNAP can provide nine," Biles said.
The end of September marks the end of the fiscal year for the federal government.
Last year, the Farm Bill was set to expire ahead of a 2023 government shutdown.
Congress passed a continuing resolution to keep the government afloat.
A pair of extensions kept important farm commodity and nutrition programs alive.
In May, GOP delegates released the 2024 Farm Bill framework.
The proposal would cut SNAP benefits 15%, approximately $30 billion.
"People are still making tough choices. The USDA just came out earlier this month with its latest food security report," Biles said. "It showed nationally, a million more households are food insecure now than they were a year ago."
Harvesters says cuts to federal nutrition programs would increase its workload as cost of production remains high.
"It takes $1,000 just to fill up the fuel tank of one of our semis on the road," Williams said. "That gets the food out into those counties, especially the rural counties that are experiencing higher food insecurity."
Harvesters told KSHB 41 it's created a plan to navigate a government shutdown and changes to SNAP.
It would effort more volunteers and increase donation campaigns.
Congress has until Sept. 30 to pass a federal budget.
It must also sign an extension on 2018 Farm Bill funding to maintain current nutrition and commodity programs.
—
