hunger
“God doesn’t want people to be hungry;” advocates ask Ohio Senate for more funding for foodbanks
Advocates focused on ending hunger in Ohio gathered at the Statehouse Thursday for the Praying for our Daily Bread Faith Leaders luncheon to discuss solutions in the state’s proposed operating budget. The Ohio Association of Foodbanks would be funded $39,550,000 a year, as distributed by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services under the House’s […]
Ohio foodbanks yet again asking the federal government not to hurt hungry citizens
Federal and state budget talks hold many funding sources in the balance, but advocates say hungry Ohioans shouldn’t become a pawn in the negotiation game. The Ohio Association of Foodbanks recently urged federal officials to refuse budget cuts or policy changes related to food assistance, especially after pandemic-era Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were […]
A pandemic experiment in universal free school meals gains traction in the states
WASHINGTON — Every public school kid in the United States was eligible for free school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of family income, thanks to the federal government. While that’s now ended, a growing number of states across the country are enacting universal school meal laws to bolster child food security and academic equity. […]
After the end of COVID-era benefits, 70k older Ohioans struggle to fight hunger
After Congress ended pandemic food assistance in February, 70,000 older Ohioans have seen food benefits slashed to $23 a month, in some cases down from $280. That has many making excruciating choices between food, medicine and utilities like electricity and gas, Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, said Wednesday. And while […]
Families are taking a hit as pandemic aid ends, inflation continues
Forty million people in the U.S. are having difficulty affording household expenses, and a little more than 25 million people say they sometimes or often do not have enough to eat, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Household Pulse survey data. The survey is designed to collect data on household experiences during the […]
Climate, pandemic conspire against hungry Ohioans
In addition to overseas wars and continuing supply-chain disruptions, diseases and climate-driven storms are making it hard to feed the hungriest Ohioans, Ohio’s top food bank official said Friday. And that’s even as continuing inflation is creating ever more of them, she said. “We’re just not seeing a return to normal at all,” said Lisa […]
Farm labor bill down to the wire, with Ohio farmers playing significant role in getting it passed
This story has been updated with comments from Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. Legislation that farmers say is necessary to ensure they have workers they need and to help bring down food costs appears to be coming down to a Christmas deadline. And, a prominent advocate said Wednesday, Ohio farmers are playing a major role in […]
Ohio farmers call for help
Ohio farmers and groups representing them say that they need access to foreign labor not just to get their products to market or to ease inflation. They say it’s a matter of national security. For the first time, next year, U.S. agricultural imports are expected to exceed the nation’s exports, according to the U.S. Department […]
Ohio foodbanks get $15 million from the state
Faced with the prospect of a punishing winter, the Ohio Association of Foodbanks is lauding Gov. Mike DeWine’s decision to award them $15 million in unspent federal coronavirus funds to buy protein-rich food for their clients. Supply bottlenecks, increased fuel costs, commodity inflation and a lack of farm labor have strained the foodbanks’ ability to […]
Feds to provide $50M in food assistance to Ohio
Ohio’s foodbanks say they’re desperate as summer is turning to fall. Demand has skyrocketed with increasing food costs at the same time that their resources have evaporated. And with current supply chain disruptions, they need to order food now if they hope to have it when winter comes. And even though the state is sitting […]
Poll: People across the spectrum support immigration rules to keep the food coming
With food prices skyrocketing, many factors have been blamed. They include disrupted exports of grain, fertilizer, and fuel because of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. They also include supply-chain disruptions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, the agricultural and food processing sectors have been plagued by the same labor shortages that […]
Is big split between rich and poor making us all poorer? Maybe
It seems as if income inequality would slow the economy. But in a recent survey a big portion of a panel of Ohio economists said… that depends. In the survey of 26 Ohio economists released Monday, 14 agreed that rising inequality in Ohio is slowing economic growth, four disagreed and eight said they were unsure. By […]