News & Updates

“Today, USDA announced $1 billion toward a national investment in proven initiatives that respond to the needs of people facing hunger and invest in resilient local food supply chains and farmers.

“The USDA will allocate $500 million nationally for additional food purchases for emergency food providers through the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Commodities available through TEFAP have made up a declining share of the overall food our network is able to source to prevent hunger and hardship. This additional allocation will be critical to supplementing the continued support that foodbanks receive from retailers and manufacturers, generous local donors, farmers and food producers, and our partners at the State of Ohio.

COLUMBUS, OH – A study conducted by the Ohio Association of Foodbanks found that an alarming number of Ohioans are being forced to choose between buying food and paying for other essential expenses including medication, household utilities and childcare. The findings, released today, are from an anonymous statewide survey, which included 2,301 validated responses from residents in 30% of all Ohio zip codes.

“The stark reality revealed by this study is a wake-up call for all of us. It is unacceptable that so many Ohioans are forced to make impossible choices between feeding their families and covering basic needs like transportation and housing,” said Joree Novotny, executive director for the Ohio Association of Foodbanks. “Ohio's foodbanks are operating at full capacity, yet the demand continues to grow. The fact that so many people are skipping meals and struggling to balance essential expenses highlights the urgent need for action.”

Key Findings from Study
After enduring over a year of above-average inflation and rising costs for food and other essentials, paired with the expiration of pandemic-era Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in March 2023, Ohioans are visiting Ohio’s foodbank network at record rates. To gain insight into the impact of these challenges, a study gathered survey responses from Ohio foodbank clients who attended food distributions in rural, suburban, and urban communities between April 15 and May 12, 2024.
Among the study’s highlights:

• Nearly two-thirds (65.2%) of Ohio Association of Foodbanks’ neighbor households reported that the adults in their households skipped meals in the past year because they did not have enough food, including more than a third (34.9%) that reported doing so every month or almost every month over the past year.
• Nearly 3 in 5 households surveyed are not participating in SNAP. For those that are participating, nearly two-thirds report that their SNAP benefits are exhausted in two weeks or less each month.
• Findings also underscored that most Ohioans who are able to work are working. Of those households without current employment, they reported multiple reasons for not working, with some reporting more than one reason. More than half (58%) said they were not working because they are ill or disabled; 40.9 percent said they are retired; and others said they were taking care of their home or family (9.6 percent), going to school (6 percent), or were looking for work or had been laid off (4.5 percent).
• When asked how often they expect to need to seek help from Ohio’s foodbanks in the next 12 months, 89.6 percent said they would need help as often or more often than in the past 12 months, including a third (33.7 percent) who said they would need help more often.

"After hours of discussion and markup, and months of delay, the U.S. House Agriculture Committee passed its Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 out of committee early Friday morning. While the legislation as drafted recommends some modest, positive changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), those changes are undercut by a proposal that would erode investments in SNAP and other emergency food assistance programs over time. At a time when our neighbors are faced with historically high costs for food and other household expenses and with food insecurity rates trending in the wrong direction, we need a strong farm bill that protects everyone on the food supply chain, from farmer to grocer to family. We urge Ohio’s congressional delegation to insist on a farm bill that fully invests in food and economic security. Ohio’s foodbanks and the households we serve need more help, not less.”

He said October 2024 marked their busiest month in 44 years of operation.

This surge in need comes at a critical time.

The Farm Bill, the largest funding source for food banks, has not been renewed since 2018. Mid-Ohio Food Collective warns that flat funding is effectively a cut due to inflation and reduced buying power.

"No amount of fundraising or philanthropy will make up for those federal and state programs. If those are not taken care of, these shelves behind us will not have as much food," Hochron said.

In response to the crisis, the 12 food banks in the state have requested $100 million over two years from the state. However, it remains uncertain what lawmakers will approve.

For families who face higher food prices and rising rents, the situation is dire.

Freestore Foodbank kept its doors open through Christmas Eve to make sure families had groceries for the holidays.

The market gave 50 pounds of food to each family who shopped.

"It's nice because not everybody has someone who cares," shopper Victoria Sprechera said.

According to the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, food banks in 2023 saw a 34% increase in families taking home groceries from food banks compared to 2022. That's a 56% increase from 2019.

Truitt said some families come in with difficult decisions, and he hopes the market alleviates some of their stress.

Sarah Kuhns on the West Ohio Food Bank Podcast!

"Sarah Kuhns from the Ohio Assoc of Food Banks joins us to talk politics, the farm bill, and much more, plus we recap out elected officials breakfast we had at the food bank on Dec. 16."

Hunger in Ohio 2024 provides a comprehensive demographic profile of people seeking food assistance through the OAF hunger relief network. The data collected help guide the development of programs, policies, and solutions that improve food security for individuals and their households and inform public awareness and policy development for addressing hunger in Ohio. The first Ohio Hunger Study was conceived and implemented in spring 2023 to document the point-in-time experience of food insecure Ohioans in the wake of the end of pandemic-era SNAP Emergency Allotments and in the midst of historic inflation. It was modeled from the past success of the national quadrennial hunger study last conducted in 2014 by Feeding America with research vendor Westat and the Urban Institute. Hunger in Ohio 2024 is representative of the experiences and challenges facing foodbank clients statewide.

Rich data from a widely distributed survey comprise the basis for the Hunger in Ohio 2024 results. All data were collected through electronic surveys completed by food pantry visitors from April 15 to May 12, 2024. This survey was implemented in partnership with staff and volunteers at each of Ohio’s 12 Feeding America foodbanks who helped to distribute flyers with unique QR codes that securely connected food pantry visitors with a confidential online survey built through Qualtrics. In total, 2,301 unique, verified respondents from about 30 percent of all Ohio zip code-areas answered questions about themselves, their households, the circumstances that led them to seek help from the emergency hunger relief network, and their experience. Wherever possible, the survey utilized validated questions from research entities such as the USDA Economic Research Service compiled from the Feeding America Client Survey. Consulting researcher Anirudh Ruhil, Ph.D., associate dean at Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service, conducted unweighted analysis of the data collected, which was used to produce this report. Special thanks to Eliza Richardson, Polly Leland, and Zach Reat, M.P.A. for their leadership on this project.

Welcome to the first official Ohio CAN Guide! This guide provides comprehensive information about Ohio’s Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program (LFPA), also known as Ohio CAN (Community +Agriculture + Nutrition). Here, you'll not only learn about the program itself but also discover the diverse individuals working behind the scenes to make it successful. Ohio CAN brings together foodbank representatives, aggregators, farmers, producers, and suppliers to ensure local food reaches communities across the state.

Ohio CAN prioritizes suppliers who identify as historically underrepresented, such as women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, veterans, small and beginner farmers, disabled farmers, and those relying on public assistance.

This guide, like the Ohio CAN program, aims to highlight local foods, celebrate local producers, and showcase the diversity within agriculture. It is designed to inspire anyone interested in farming, gardening, or agriculture and to clarify what “local foods” truly means and its significance to programs like this.