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LOGAN, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Although his last name might suggest otherwise, Steven Fowler of Pasture Fowler has not been farming chickens for that long.

“I’ve been on this farm for two years in December, and then prior to that — Pasture Fowler is about four years old, and I leased land before that,” Fowler said. Fowler’s chickens are pasture-raised, meaning they grow up with grass at their feet. They live in covered enclosures, which Fowler moves every day to keep their grass supply fresh. Once they’re fully grown, he takes them in batches of about 500 to a USDA-certified meat processor to have them slaughtered and turned into food products (what Fowler calls their “one bad day”), which he then sells.

Fowler said one of the things that helped him get his business off the ground was the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, known here as Ohio CAN. The program was established in the 2018 farm bill as a way to get local meat and produce into the hands of people who otherwise couldn’t afford such products.

LIMA, OH (WLIO) - The USDA announces 1 billion dollars to help with food insecurity across the country.

That money will be divided up nationwide and used to support places like the West Ohio Food Bank as they wait for the federal government to pass the farm bill to continue their funding. Half of the money will go to programs that work with farmers, growers, and producers for nutritional food options. The other half of the money will be used for additional food purchases by food banks from retailers and food manufacturers, which have been in decline.

"It is not only going to help nationwide, especially with all the devastation that just happened in North Carolina in Florida, but it is going to help all of the food banks because we are all in the same situation. None of us are seeing size of the loads that were coming through before. Food has, donations have dropped off a little bit. So, we continue to struggle to get enough food in here and be able to provide that to those facing food insecurity," says Tommie Harner, CEO, of West Ohio Food Bank.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus is a booming town, meaning prices are going up as more people come to the area and demand is high. Everyone is feeling the pinch, from prices at the gas pump to getting food at the grocery store.

Some families are now finding it hard to stretch their dollars, forcing them to prioritize their bills over their health. While a boomtown like Columbus brings population and economic opportunity, it also brings severe food insecurity.

Some families go several days without eating because of the lack of money or access to food. A new survey from the Ohio Association of Foodbanks shows hunger at crisis levels in Ohio and people are forced to choose between food or basic needs.

This story is part of 10TV's "Boomtown" initiative — our commitment to covering every angle of central Ohio's rapid growth. This includes highlighting success stories, shining a light on growing pains and seeking solutions to issues in your everyday life.

In the past year, Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio has seen a 32 percent increase in food pantry visits.

A recent study by the Ohio Association of Foodbanks is showing this is a trend not only happening locally, but throughout Ohio.

Second Harvest, which serves Lorain, Huron, Erie and Crawford counties, is actively working toward advancing specific legislation and government allocated dollars to help with the issue.

There are 12 food banks in the state that make up the Ohio Association of Foodbanks (OAF).

The study has shown that many residents say they are finding they must choose between buying food or paying for other essential household expenses like transportation, housing costs, medicine and utilities.

Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen and Social Center is in the heart of Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Every weekday morning, the soup kitchen is overflowing with people looking for a meal.

“We have had a 27% increase in meals since May of this year,” said Georgine Getty, the soup kitchen's executive director.

But the number hasn't just gone up in 2024.

“Before COVID we were doing about 200 meals a day, and now we’re on average of doing well over 600 meals a day," Getty said.

Derek Smith mans Our Daily Bread's takeout window, and he told us he's noticed the lines get longer as the weeks go by.

“We seen a different type of demographic coming here now. At first it was just the underprivileged, the disadvantaged and the homeless, and now it's everybody," Smith said.

The Ohio Association of Foodbanks , which represents Ohio's 12 Feeding America food banks and thousands of hunger relief centers in the state, investigated recent hunger-related issues.

Executive Director Joree Novotny said that issues surrounding hunger continue to grow.

“Food insecurity has been on the rise for the last couple of years,” Novotny said.

The nation’s poverty rate rose last year even as incomes improved, the government reported on Tuesday, reflecting higher prices and the expiration of the last pandemic relief programs.

The share of Americans living in poverty as defined by the Census Bureau’s “supplemental” measure, which takes into account a broader range of benefits and expenses than the official poverty rate, rose to 12.9 percent in 2023, from 12.4 percent in 2022. The median household income, adjusted for inflation, rose to $80,610, finally regaining its prepandemic level.

Poverty levels have risen anew in recent years after a wave of pandemic relief aid — and an exceptionally strong labor market that lifted the wages of many at the bottom of the pay spectrum — collided with the most rapid inflation in a generation.