Media Coverage

Ohio will become only the second state to issue electronic benefits cards to SNAP or food stamp recipients with computer chips in them, after Gov. Mike DeWine signed a law requiring that this week. And it’s something advocates for low-income Ohioans have long pushed for.

Senate Bill 315, known as the Enhanced Cybersecurity for SNAP Act, passed unanimously in the Senate and eight Democrats and two Republicans in the House voting against it.

SNAP cards have been susceptible to skimming devices installed at food retailers by criminals trying to steal benefits, said Ohio Association of Food Banks Executive Director Joree Novotny. She said Ohio's cards are more than a decade behind other payment technology.

"They're magnetic strip cards, and they're very susceptible to fraud unfortunately," Novotny said. "So we've had tens of thousands of Ohio households that have been victimized by criminal fraudsters and had their benefits stolen because those cards aren't secure."

She said not only are Ohio's cards not as secure as those with chips, there's no way to recover benefits after they are stolen.

One year ago, the Republican “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” made the largest cuts to food stamps in the history of the program. Now 100,000 Ohioans are going without help and the state is bracing for enormous new costs without federal help.

The Trump/Republican spending law made the largest cuts ever to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is largely used by children, older adults, and those with disabilities.

The cuts to SNAP have impacted millions of in-need Americans.

Deer season is popular as a sport, a resource for protein and an attempt to control a wildlife population that can be damaging to crops in Ohio fields.

Finding a place for all the venison harvested to go is another challenge, one that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife worked to ease through last year’s Deer Donation pilot program.

“Many hunters don’t meet their tag allotment because processing one deer is usually enough for their needs,” said Jonathan Sorg with ODNR Division of Wildlife. “Hunters are conservationists and often don’t have a use for more, and processing and donating the meat can be cost-prohibitive.”

The Deer Donation program encourages hunters to “responsibly harvest additional antlerless deer to help maintain healthy deer populations and reduce numbers in areas where deer may exceed the land’s capacity,” said Kassie Mitchell, District One manager at the ODNR Division of Wildlife.

Rep. Sean Brennan (D-14, Parma) wants to help bolster college graduation rates — improving the brain power of Ohioans — by addressing a most basic need: food insecurity.

Rep. Brennan and Rep. James Hoops (R-81, Napoleon) introduced HB 157, the Hunger-Free Campus Act, in 2025. It’s one of many well-thought-out pieces of legislation that still might not make it through the Ohio General Assembly in 2026.

Thousands of pounds of food from Ohio grocery stores end up at the dump each day, but food banks are expanding efforts to obtain edible items before they reach landfills.

Chuck Allen, director of food strategy for Greater Cleveland Food Bank, said from dry goods to meat and dairy, organizations are collecting food from grocers that would otherwise be thrown away. Allen pointed out that partnerships with retailers help food banks fill gaps for items not typically donated, including frozen meat.

“We need to be there as often as possible so that we’re able to capture all the fresh dairy and the produce so we can get that back out,” Allen said. “The majority of that product is picked up by our agencies.”

According to state data, partnerships between food banks and local retailers resulted in more than 150 million pounds of edible food being rescued across Ohio counties in 2025. The Ohio Association of Food Banks recovered 137 million pounds of food in its 12 regional pantries.

Next week, Findlay City Schools will be kicking off the Hancock County Summer Lunch Program. The program brings multiple community organizations together to address hunger countywide.

Food insecurity is felt by nearly 14% of people in Hancock County, according to the Ohio Association of Food Banks, and with school out for the summer, the need can become even greater.

School is out in Findlay, which means no more homework, tests or early morning wake ups. But it also means students no longer can rely on the school cafeteria.