Why Tennessee needs stronger nutrition programs

For most families across America, paychecks no longer stretch as far as they need to. When budgets tighten, families cut back where they can. Too often, food — especially fresh and whole food — is the first thing to go. More working families, seniors with fixed incomes, veterans and active-duty military families are turning to food assistance programs to help them during a temporary setback. Here in rural Tennessee, Second Harvest of Northeast Tennessee has seen a increase in people coming to get food support. Map the Meal Gap estimates we now have increased to 1 in 5 individuals in our region facing food insecurity. For children the number is even more disturbing with 1 in 4 children facing food insecurity in Northeast Tennessee. This summer alone we conducted 52 summer feeding sites throughout our eight-county service area, with 392,865 meals served to feed children home from school without access to the federal Summer-EBT program. Changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are creating even more hurdles for some families already grappling with high grocery, gas and utility prices. SNAP serves as a bridge back to stability during hard times, helping families keep nutritious food on the table and freeing up limited income for rent, gas and other essentials. When families lose access to SNAP benefits or experience disruptions in assistance, many will turn to food banks for help. Across the country, food banks and pantries are facing compounding challenges, including an increasing demand for support, rising supply chain costs, fewer food donations, and reductions in federally supplied food, such as food provided through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). For many food banks, that means fewer truckloads of milk, fresh produce, protein and shelf-stable foods arriving as pantry lines grow longer. Food banks are also paying more to buy and transport food to meet community needs. These pressures are not only affecting families and organizations like Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee, they strain the broader food system too. Farmers are facing rising costs for fertilizer, and, like food banks, fuel and transportation. Smaller grocery stores — often the only source of food in rural or underserved communities — are grappling with thin margins and higher supply costs. Congress has an opportunity to act before today's pressures become tomorrow's crisis. First, lawmakers should strengthen TEFAP in the next farm bill by providing the U.S. Department of Agriculture with more funding to purchase food directly from U.S. farmers and producers. TEFAP is one of the most effective partnerships between farmers, food banks and families, but recently, funding has decreased or been diverted for other federal programs. When the U.S. government purchases from U.S. growers and producers, your tax dollars do double duty: steadying farm markets and putting fresh food grown here on the tables of families facing hunger. Second, Congress should delay implementation of the SNAP cost shift to states by two years, as requested by states and counties, to allow states more time to reduce SNAP payment error rates and food banks to adjust to changes in participation that impact the food assistance we provide. Food banks and pantries are not designed or positioned to make up for the reduction or loss of government food assistance to people otherwise eligible. The risk is too high — more time is needed for many states to deal with the cost shift. Finally, in addition to, not in place of, economic aid for farmers, ranchers and producers, Congress should provide new funding dedicated to immediate food and commodity purchases to quickly create additional markets for American agriculture and deliver much-needed nutritious food to families facing hunger. Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee will continue doing everything it can to meet the need, but it will take all of us working together to meet this moment. Members of Congress must recommit to their communities and strengthen the federal nutrition programs that help keep families, farmers and communities strong and resilient. Rhonda Chafin is CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee.