The recent USDA funding cuts are impacting services to provide nutritional food to communities in need.

Food orders intended for Harvesters, which serves area food pantries, community kitchens and shelters, were canceled.

We discussed the impact of federal funding cuts on food banks and the impact on our communities.

On this episode of Inspire.

(♪) Inspire is sponsored by the estate of Ray and Anne Goldsmith.

The Raymond C and Marguerite Gibson Foundation and the Louis H. Humphreys Charitable Trust.

(♪) Hello and welcome to Inspire.

I'm excited to be here with my Inspire sisters, Danielle Norwood and Betty Lou Pardue.

Today, federal funding cuts have impacted multiple services and individuals around the United States.

This includes services that provide nutritional food to communities in need.

Food orders intended for the Harvesters in Kansas and Missouri were canceled, resulting in a loss of much needed food products to area food pantries, community kitchens, and to shelters.

Here to discuss the direct and indirect impact of federal funding cuts on food banks are Elizabeth Keever, chief resource officer for Harvesters, the Community Food Network, and Matt Hammer, Harvesters communications manager.

Thank you both for being here.

We are honored to have you here to talk about this distressing news that has just come out of Washington.

So before we get to that, let's talk about Harvesters.

How did it get started?

How many years have you all been helping out?

People in both Kansas and Missouri and how many counties are you impacting?

Yeah.

So Harvesters really the vision set out for in the 1970s, actually, we've been around for quite a while.

And what the community in the region was seeing is that there was a lot of food that was in grocery stores and, you know, wholesalers, places like Tyson that would manufacture product.

And there was a whole bunch of agencies that needed food to, distribute, whether it was food pantries or shelters.

And there was not a streamlined system to take in charitable donations of food and distribute it out to the partner agencies who needed it.

So in the 70s, the problem really started arising, and the food bank network and started to grow across the country and, Harvesters was one of the very first food banks in the country and officially opened its doors in 1979 and has really grown ever since.

And today, we're really proud that we can say we serve 27 counties in northeastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri.

Awesome.

Yeah.

Fantastic.

So what is the difference between a food bank and a food pantry?

Yeah, that's a great question because there's so many terms that get thrown around.

A food bank is really exactly how you think about your bank.

It is a place where we intake, charitable food donations from across the region, whether it's in industry, donations to, grocery stores, individual food drives.

And then we work with our partner agencies.

They're the ones who actually distribute it to those in need who handed out so through food pantries.

So a food bank stores it collects, it houses it all.

And then when our partner agencies order it, we track it to them so they can put it on the shelves for folks in need in our region.

So, Matt, it's estimated that 1 in 8 people goes hungry.

That's a huge number for you guys to help, for Harvesters to help.

How are you dealing with that?

Yeah, I mean, food insecurity is at a really, really high rate right now.

It's the highest it's been in ten years, higher than it was there in the pandemic.

An estimated 1 in 8, people in our region is food insecure.

1 in 6 kids, actually.

And so, yeah, the needs are super high.

A lot of these folks have to make really hard decisions on whether they're going to turn on their air conditioning or heat, or have enough food if they're going to take the full dose of their medication that they need, or do that or get a medical procedure.

So these are, you know, folks that are barely on the edge of being able to make it that have to make a really hard choices on whether or not they're going to purchase food or if they even have enough to do that.

So yeah, it's a it's a growing it's a growing issue.

We're going to be having some new data coming out in the next month that we're estimating is going to show that the need is even higher than it was last year.

So yeah, and I want to focus in on children because those numbers impact me even more.

We're thinking about kids being in school and, you know, not being able to concentrate in the classroom because they haven't had sufficient nutrition.

And of course, are these programs in the schools like hot breakfast, not lunch.

But what happens after they get home is another big issue.

Talk about that with our viewers, because maybe they think, well, the government's taking care of their breakfast and lunch.

What's the problem?

But there's so much more to it.

There's so much more.

Yeah.

And with school camp being out, you know, they don't have that daily backpack and that type of thing.

Exactly.

And to that point, one inch six kids, 1 in 6 kids.

That's an astronomical number of kids in our region that are experiencing hunger.

And hunger impacts every part of their life and impacts how well they do in school and how well they do in sports, what their likelihood of going and getting an education after, high school.

And it really is, so important to provide food beyond what the basic meals that are provided during school, the breakfast and the lunch.

And you're exactly right.

Some of the challenges are in the summer and, of course, dinner.

And one of the unique challenges, too, is early childhood education.

We've got a lot of kids that we serve through our programing that are a part of programs that, are in early childhood programs that would not otherwise qualify for some of the, breakfast and meals or parents who stay at home and don't have their kids in schools until grade school.

So some of the programs that we operate to really help is we've got our back snack program, which is a really key program that gives kids a, bag of food to take to really help tide them over on the weekend to provide that extra nutritional, boost over the weekend.

So things are a little bit less tough for those families over the weekend, but one of the challenges with that back snack program that we found time and time was that there's other people in the household.

Exactly.

And a lot of times, those families would divide it up or save some.

So everyone can have a little piece from it.

And we thought, you know what?

There's got to be a better way.

So we really started working within the school districts and saying, what can we do to make sure we're not just feeding this one child that a family can sit and enjoy a meal together.

So we really started growing our school pantry program, and that's been a really key way that families can connect within the schools and get groceries for their entire family and, and provide a meal, just like anyone else, to have around the dinner table together.

So having, you know, broken down all of these fantastic programs, these government, cuts, what does that mean for these programs?

Does that mean that you'll no longer be able to offer these programs or you'll have to, you know, cut them short?

What what what are we talking about here?

That's a great question.

One of the programs that was just recently cut, which is t fab.

We experienced a 30% cut in our t fat program, which is going to equate to about a reduction in 2.4 million pounds of food that we will not anticipate seeing over the next calendar year.

And some of that food we were expecting to see in the next couple of days when we received the cancellation order.

And the unique thing about this particular cut is it wasn't funding.

It was actual product that was going to go directly onto the shelves of our partner organizations.

And this product was some of the most desirable things that our agencies are asking for.

It was fresh proteins, dairy, eggs.

And those orders have been canceled.

So that's one challenge that we have right off the bat.

And then another program that was canceled, the FPA program, which was a fund that allowed us to purchase regionally grown agriculture product that resulted in around 1.5 million pounds of food last year.

That program has been cut, and that is an extra opportunity for us to provide the healthiest food available and have a huge regional economic impact on our local agricultural system.

So the impacts of these cuts are going to be felt not only by the neighbors that we serve, but the agricultural community and the community that they live in.

It's such a waste.

Oh my gosh.

The numbers of people affected by food insecurity in our community continue to grow.

There seems to be no end in sight.

So what can we do to be part of the solution?

We'll learn from our guests in our next segment.

Please stay with us.

(♪) We're back with our discussion about the impact of federal funding cuts on Harvesters, the Community Food Network with our guests Elizabeth Keever, chief resource officer for Harvesters.

And Matt Hammer, Harvesters communications manager.

So when we left, we were talking about the impact of these cuts.

And what I was wondering about too is what can we do about this?

I mean, it's not a huge part of your budget, but any part of your budget getting cut is disastrous for the clients that you serve.

There's a lot of different ways that people can get involved.

The first is, you can just make a donation to us, whether that's food physically, or making a financial donation through our website.

Harvesters.org.

One of the things with that, too, is we really love, monthly donors.

If people can sign up to a recurring donor on just a planning level, when we know that we can expect the same amount, of money every month from that, it makes it a lot easier for us to be able to do budgeting things.

And then another one is reaching out to your representatives.

If you know who your local representatives are and you want to make your voice heard.

And say, you know what?

We we believe that these programs are important.

We believe that cutting them is disastrous to our neighbors.

And that the government can afford to keep them going.

And if they don't, it's actually going to not only hurt people physically, but economically.

We can, you know, we can raise our voice and we can make that heard.

We also have an advocacy newsletter that goes out monthly, so you can sign up for that on our website as well.

That kind of keeps people, in the know about policy changes and things that, they can kind of get involved in along the way as well.

You know, to really emphasize the importance of becoming a donor with Harvesters is really the great thing that we're able to do is we're able to turn $1 and provide two meals.

And where since food prices have risen so much over the past five years, I mean, we're up 25% over the past five years, so we can get a much better dollar value than the average person.

So being able to maximize that, you know, financial support of donors is really key to help us get through these really challenging times.

You know, we've talked about the importance for kids because that's such a high percentage, as is seniors.

But you both use some acronyms earlier that I'd like to just clear up, because there's so much more that you do.

Okay.

First was TFAP and then LFPA, will you explain TFAP please.

Yeah.

TFAP is, the emergency food assistance program and it is food that is distributed, through our partner agencies.

And it is us grown and manufactured agricultural product that is acquired by the USDA, and it allows us to distribute it through our network of agencies.

So it goes directly into the hands of folks who need it.

So it's actual that actual physical product that we're talking about, right.

And emergency.

So for Matt, you and I were talking earlier about that, you know, when there's an emergency anywhere.

I mean, you guys come to help.

Yeah.

No, we're part of, part of the Feeding America food bank network.

And so that means that if there are major disasters, different places, sometimes they will tap food banks in other, areas of the country to lend more support.

So we are involved in that when things happen.

Okay.

So could you do the LFPA?

a yes, the local food purchase assistance program.

And what that was, as it's no longer here, was, food.

That was her money that was given to food banks to be able to purchase directly from local farmers, to be able to provide, locally grown, agricultural products.

Yeah.

And that in turn also helps out the local farmers.

That helps get really fresh food for the folks that are there.

But that program was one of the ones that was cut early on.

So okay, I have another acronym.

Okay.

Sorry about you.

Yeah, yeah.

And a two part question.

So tell our viewers about SNAP.

What exactly is that?

Yeah.

SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and folks might casually call it food stamps.

Exactly.

Or, they'll talk about using their EBT card.

Maybe, but it is the program that is, it's a federal program that is allocated through the farm bill that is distributed through states, to be money that goes directly into the hands of families so they can purchase food at the grocery stores.

And to really kind of get the impact of what snap does for our region, for every nine meals that snap provides and the broader food assistance world, a food bank only provides one.

So they're a huge.

The SNAP program is a huge piece of the overall puzzle of fighting hunger, and food banks rely on the SNAP program so that we can continue to be the supplement for so many folks who are still not making ends meet.

Yeah, and that's why I want to get to the second part of my question, because as minimal as these particular reductions may be, in some sense, there's talk about reducing SNAP as well.

So you combine the two things and more and more people are going to be affected with fewer possible ease of getting good quality food.

And we talk about, you know, especially with seniors in high blood pressure and diabetes and not have.

So I mean, this is a whole circular thing that I'm really passionate about because again, everybody needs access to good, healthy food instead of having a limited budget to go and be down the center aisle in terms of chips and cookies and things like that, speak to us about that.

Yeah, I mean, it's a huge thing.

It's so complicated and everything's so interconnected.

Like you don't just wake up one day and you're hungry.

You know, there are so many things that go into ending up in a position in which you're food insecure and that's not going to be the only problem that you're dealing with if you're hungry.

Right?

So poverty is really the bigger issue when it comes down to all of this stuff.

And food insecurity is a portion of that.

Snap is probably the biggest thing that we're concerned about as far as federal cuts right now.

Which is interesting because we don't receive money from Snap.

But as Elizabeth was saying, it is the most efficient way that we have to tackle hunger in the country.

And, I mean, there's some some metrics saying that even like a 10% reduction in Snap would require food banks to double their fundraising.

Right?

10%.

And so we don't know what to expect out of any of that.

I know they're talking about in the farm bill and all that stuff.

And there's a lot of deliberation going on, but, yeah, it's a huge deal.

And again, like, okay, now you can't afford food more.

Okay.

So we get less nutritious food or we don't make that medical appointment, or we just have a low hanging anxiety over us all the time that affects your mental health and productivity and work.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So it it is way of a bigger issue than just well, those people don't work hard enough to eat.

And so they shouldn't we shouldn't have to pay for them to do that.

Okay.

We have a clarification on that too because I'm about to get passionate on that too, because there's a lot of of working poor.

No, it's mostly, you know, 40 hours a week or work multiple jobs in order to just stay afloat.

Who are also people that are your clients.

Yeah, that's most of who we serve.

We we most people that we serve.

Food insecurity doesn't just look like one thing, right?

It's not that you like open up your fridge and some flies come out.

There's nothing in it.

It's not having consistent access to nutritious food that you can rely on, to sustain you.

Right.

Or some people have very, very extreme food insecurity.

There's a there's a broad gamut, but like each of us are just 1 or 2 major life events from an absolute position.

Right?

It's not it's not an us versus them thing.

It's a we are in this together and we should care that everyone has access to food.

We believe it's a human right at harvesters, that everyone has access to the food that they need.

And a huge part of that is okay.

Like we're one piece of the puzzle as a food bank, but we're not.

We don't believe that.

It's the way that everyone needs to be.

Getting their food is just for the the food bank, right?

People who have agency to to purchase enough food for themselves.

That's great.

We're here to be a little help if needed for people.

And I think one of the things that often gets forgotten in the snap conversation is it like the LPA program, the farmer purchasing program, there is an economic benefit to the SNAP program.

For every dollar invested in, SNAP has $1.50 economic return back to that community.

So how many small town grocery stores are saved because of SNAP?

And when you you know, if you cut SNAP and your small town grocery store closes now, that family has not only less access to their dollar to purchase food, now they have less access to healthy food.

Right?

And it is a perpetuating cycle of poverty, of not only are we not able to have healthy and nutritious food, you are perpetuating food related illnesses which create, you know, chronic conditions have a higher correlation of health outcomes and education rates.

And then that continues.

Cyclical poverty, poverty and the benefit of providing nutrition assistance can break generational poverty.

And it has long term economic impacts for communities by investing in nutrition.

So it's hard.

It's there's a human component.

There's a health care component.

And there is a huge economic component, a mental health.

Elizabeth and Matt, we thank you both so much.

And we thank you for watching.

And our eyes have been opened about the impact of food insecurity in our communities and how we can help those in need.

So we do appreciate you being here with us.

And coming up, we'll share our takeaways on what we've learned and see if you learned the same things.

Please stay with us.

Ladies, I'm both overwhelmed by the amount of stats that were just given to us by Elizabeth and Matt, but also inspired that we can actually make a difference in trying to provide a solution to this food insecurity and the deficit that the federal government has put this particular agency in.

What were your takeaways from today's show?

One of the things that I loved right off was that we can be what we call in the PBS world as sustainer, because if you know that you're going to have $25 from this family every month, or $5, $10, whatever, that could be in your budget, that that's going to go, they know that they're can count on that.

So they know then that they can purchase this amount of food from somebody else.

And that is so critical.

So I would encourage anyone right there, you know, if if you are a family or you are a single person, because I'm going to start donating.

I mean, when I, when you read that is because if you have enough to feed yourself and can give just a little bit, I mean, we just celebrated Easter, if you can give just a little bit extra to someone in need, that just keeps a domino effect and it can help everything that Elizabeth was talking about, you know, and I agree.

And, you know, for all the years that I've been working here in Topeka, I've driven by Harvesters.

And I really didn't know much about them.

I didn't know anything, frankly, I knew that it had something to do with food, obviously.

But now that I know that I can actually make a donation or a money donation, I don't have to go to the supermarket and buy a bunch of cans.

I can just send the money, which is way easier, frankly, for me.

I'm going to do that.

So that's one thing that I also took away.

The other thing that I took away is that not only are we making it difficult for families, we have got to be making this more difficult for our farmers.

And here in Kansas, we have farmers.

Yeah.

And so they're being shut out of this by, you know, the federal government saying, sorry, you know, we're not going to fund this anymore.

And so I'm sure that they're, you know, making crops available so that they can send the fresh produce and things to Harvesters so that they can send that to families.

So that makes me crazy.

So not only are you, you know, making it difficult for families, you're also making it difficult for the people who are making this food available, which is heartbreaking to me.

And there's so many layers of people affected by this.

You've got you've, you've you've got families, you've got you're seeing adults who, again, are having to make the choices as to, are we going to get food?

Are we going to get medicine?

And I hate, you know, insulin.

I worked at target for a moment and there was a man who worked there who was 92 years old or working on the cash register because I was like, Danielle, I had to make a choice between food and medicine.

And that's when he decided that he had to go back to work.

And, that should never be a thought that we should all be able to eat and to have proper nutrition, right along with the things that were okay.

Is this the United States of America?

We're talking about food insecurity.

And, you know, and this is something that has come up just in my mind sort of recently, the last five years.

And the fact that they even have less now than they had during the pandemic, these, these, these different charities is mind blowing to me.

If anything, we should be back to where we were and exceeding that right and making sure that everyone has what they need to live in this society.

Because that's what America is all about, right?

Or else why?

What are we doing here?

Makes America great again.

That is what makes America great again.

All right, so, ladies and gentlemen, that's all the time we have for today.

We hope you've been inspired by today's conversations as we have.

And as a reminder, you can watch this program again at watch.ktwu.org And if you are so inspired to learn more about our guests, find out what's coming up on future shows and get access to additional content.

Be sure to visit our website at ktwu.org/inspire Inspiring women and inspiring all of us to be the change that we want to see, inspiring you on KTWU.

Thank you for watching.

(♪) Inspire is sponsored by the estate of Ray and Anne Goldsmith, the Raymond C and Marguerite Gibson Foundation, and the Louis H. Humphreys Charitable Trust.