Media Coverage

As a new school year begins in Ohio, an old problem persists: child hunger. Hunger relief programs continue to strain under the demand, while receiving less support from state and federal sources.

According to Feeding America, 1 in 5 children in the state face hunger, amounting to more than 517,000 kids.

“You have a lot of people bending heaven and earth to get food into kids mouths, but the problem is, we can’t do it alone,” said Deacon Nick Bates, director of Hunger Network in Ohio, which partners with religious congregations and local agencies to address hunger.

Bates has seen firsthand the compromises that have to be made at church food pantries and other hunger-relief efforts across the state because of state and federal budget cuts. Fresh foods are in limited supply, and resources are being spread thin.

“Instead of being able to give out five days worth of food, it means giving two to three days worth of food,” Bates said.

He said the long-term effects of hungry kids will hit the state in different ways, from health outcomes to education struggles, even with the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We should recognize that the pandemic may have ended, but the scars still remain,” Bates said. “One of those scars is hunger, and when kids are hungry, they’re more likely to get sick; when kids are hungry, they have trouble learning.”

The Ohio Association of Foodbanks is one of four state-based organizations selected for a prestigious $75,000 grant from Share Our Strength’s Medicaid Food Security Partners Program, part of the Medicaid Food Security Network (MFSN). Announced on August 26, 2025, the initiative aims to tackle food and nutrition insecurity by leveraging state Medicaid programs to connect vulnerable populations, particularly children and families, to critical nutrition resources like SNAP and WIC.

Montgomery County officials say their $1 million award to Foodbank Inc. is coming at a time when local food pantries are reporting high and consistent need in the communities they serve.

County leaders opted to provide the funding to the food bank instead of a fall round of funding for an economic development program.

Foodbank Inc. CEO Michelle Riley said hunger impacts all.

Food banks and local job and family services agencies are seeing an increase in public need as resources decrease due to both state and federal actions.

Joree Novotny, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, said the operating budget (HB 96) left the association with a $7.5 million reduction in funding compared to the previous fiscal year.

On July 4, President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” was officially signed, and as part of the bill, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program saw significant cuts.

As it stands, SNAP is fully funded by the U.S. government, but according to the bill, starting in fiscal year 2028, states will be required to cover five to 15% of benefits if they have payment error rates of 6% or above. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ohio’s error rate in fiscal year 2024 was 9.01%, with 7.67% of total payments in the state being overpayments.

At the end of the day, StarkFresh’s heart and mission were tied to the people who needed the biggest helping hand.

That’s how Executive Director Tom Phillips, who led the Canton-based nonprofit fighting hunger across Stark County, described the organization’s work to Farm and Dairy. After more than a decade combating food insecurity, StarkFresh, the Canton-based nonprofit known for bringing dignity and equity to food access, is closing its doors.

The shuttering, announced July 1, comes after what the StarkFresh’s Board of Directors called a difficult choice brought on by a combination of financial and operational challenges that ultimately made the organization unsustainable.