Second Harvest Food Bank hosts roundtable discussions in coverage area

ELYRIA — Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio's vision is a hunger-free community, but that work does not exist in a vacuum. To that end, the organization hosted a roundtable discussion Wednesday, led by Advocacy Coordinator Kimberly Hazelgrove to find overlaps in services, partnerships and unmet needs in the area it serves. Second Harvest has been hosting discussions in each of its service areas — Lorain, Crawford, Erie and Huron counties — and will continue to do so in the coming months, Hazelgrove said. She said the organization is lucky to work with the Ohio Association of Foodbanks to get state funding for additional food, and healthier food but noted often clients coming to the food bank do not have the capacity to store or prepare certain items. She said for senior citizens, Neighborhood Alliance's Meals on Wheels program has a waiting list hundreds of individuals long. Neighborhood Alliance's Kim Smith said the biggest issue she hears from the seniors they serve is the rising food cost, and that expense also hits Neighborhood Alliance hard. The nonprofit contracts with a service provider for prepared food for its Meals on Wheels program, and without Second Harvest's support, it could not feed the residents of its homeless shelter or children in its day care. Hazelgrove said federal legislators' consideration for senior citizens facing food insecurity includes efforts to raise the supplemental food benefit minimum, better known as SNAP, to $50 per month. On average, Hazelgrove said, senior citizens served by Second Harvest only receive about $23 per month in SNAP benefits. "Times have changed and food costs are not going down," she said. She asked what providers are hearing in terms of childhood hunger in the county. Several attendees noted an increase in seniors and children seeking services for food, and that local school districts stepped in to help fill the void. Elyria, Lorain, Clearview and other school districts all offer some pantry or food programs for students. Other attendees brought up clients' concerns about trying new food that they may receive from Second Harvest or its partner agencies. The Lorain Public Library System offers culinary literacy courses throughout the year, helping teach attendees how to cook food they may not have grown up with — like squash or other vegetables. When discussing access to fresh vegetables, several attendees touched on urban farming or community garden initiatives like Lorain's Solidarity Farms. Solidarity Farms partners with several organizations, including Second Harvest, to produce fresh vegetables in the community. Hazelgrove said Second Harvest and other food banks are able to work with small and mid-sized farms since COVID-19 through partnerships with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But over and over, she said, she heard that farmers in the communities served by Second Harvest are also going hungry. Sometimes, their produce goes unsold as it is more expensive for individuals to purchase. To combat that, the state has a local food purchase program promoting Ohio-grown produce and meat for its food banks. The Oberlin Food Hub also looks to connect smaller farms with buyers and retail customers. Hazelgrove called for the community partners in the room to help share stories of the impact state and federal legislation can have on the residents they serve. She said Lorain County is making strides in being more collaborative — like through United Way's 211 database for service providers — but public input and engagement are key. "We're moving into a space where people are understanding we can't do anything alone," she said. "We have to get messages out to make sure that health and human services are taken care of and that people have dignity and respect no matter where they're at." She said Feeding America and the Ohio Association of Food Banks are offering opportunities for clients to tell their stories in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, respectively. While there have been recent strides in legislation, including making summer EBT in Ohio permanent, the 2024 Farm Bill still has yet to pass. The U.S. Farm Bill, reauthorized every five years, governs several food programs in the country, including SNAP. For more information on Second Harvest's upcoming distributions, or food pantries run by its partner organizations, visit freshtrak.com. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.