Faith leaders and Dare to Care officials in Louisville are urging residents to help each other, and to advocate for food nutrition programs amidst federal funding uncertainty.
A new study from Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap shows that food insecurity in Kentuckiana increased 48% from 2021-2023, the most recent data available.
The study estimates 186,350 Kentuckiana residents and one in five children in the region were struggling with food insecurity, or not having access to quality food, representatives from Dare to Care Food Bank, a local nonprofit, said Wednesday.
The study analyzed data from the United States Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as the average cost of food in each county, the national average meal cost and poverty and unemployment rates.
Dare to Care CEO Vincent James said the uptick in food insecurity stems from the pandemic.
“When there were a lot of COVID benefits, you had child tax credits, you had so many other benefits that were coming to our community and to individuals to be able to help them to build that bridge in the gap that they had with their resources every month.” James said. “Well, when those benefits were cut around two to three years ago...we are now seeing the impact of those cuts.”
James said these statistics paired with potential federal funding cuts to food nutrition programs is “the perfect storm.”
This week, a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee passed part of a package President Donald Trump deemed “one, big, beautiful bill.” If it passes, the legislation could gut federal programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Organizations such as Dare to Care heavily rely on SNAP. For every dollar invested in a local food pantry, SNAP can provide nine meals, James said. Dare to Care serves 13 counties in Kentucky and Indiana counties: Washington, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Clark, Jefferson, Oldham, Trimble, Carroll, Bullitt, Spencer, Shelby and Henry.
The Emergency Food Administration Program (TEFAP) provides 25% of the food Dare to Care distributes in the community, food bank officials said in a written statement. In March, the USDA paused $500 million in TEFAP funding. The program buys food from local farmers and sends it directly to food banks.
“There's no way that we can make up that gap with all of the philanthropy in our community, with all of the generosity in our community,” James said.
Shane Schlatter is a Dare to Care volunteer and executive director of Exodus Family Ministries. He said he’s seen the increased demand at the food bank.
“We're getting between 20 to 40 new requests for food boxes to get delivered per month. And now we have people on a waiting list, and we have to tell people no right now,” he said.
He said he’s concerned about how some kids will get meals after school lets out for the summer.
“Every year, near spring break, we get calls from desperate moms that don't know how they're going to feed their kids,” Schlatter said. “So while a lot of children are excited right now to be getting out for summer break, there's a lot of kids that are in desperation right now.”
For now, James and Schlatter agreed that Dare to Care needs more volunteers to help feed the community.
“This is an opportunity in time for our entire community to come together and say, ‘No one will go hungry in our community again.’” James said. “We have to be in the fight together.”
James and other faith leaders encouraged Kentuckiana residents to call or send a letter to their federal lawmakers to show their support for SNAP and TEFAP.
“Hunger knows no political boundaries, none,” James said. “History has shown that when leaders come together and work together in unity, that they can make a great difference in our community.”
