Submitted by Kenna Knight, Extension Agent
Pendleton County Extension Office
Meeting held at the Pendleton County Extension Office on May 30 at 6:30 p.m. to start the conversation on Hunger in Kentucky and more specifically Pendleton County. 700,000 Kentuckians – one in six – are food insecure. At the meeting we broke that down to county number specifically based on our population. Pendleton County's population is 14,607. Using the 1-6 of Kentuckian data for food insecure – about 2,500 of our residents are now always knowing where their next meal will come from.
At the meeting on May 30, the Pendleton County Extension Office invited those serving food insecure residences in our county as well as all leaders in Pendleton County. Representation from those serving included our school resources centers, Open Hand, the Catholic Dioceses working through Saint X, NKCAC, Library, Gathering Wings, churches, Farmer's Market and Extension volunteers. Leaders present include three of our magistrates and our county judge. In total, about 40 individuals shared in our conversation.
Kenna Knight shared information from the University of Kentucky Know More, Do More curriculum share with agents across the state to help those attending to recognize food insecurity as a community issue. And to continue the conversation and work on developing one or more goals to address the food insecurity in Pendleton County.
While hunger and food insecurity are closely related terms that are sometimes used interchangeably, each have an important distinctive meaning. The USDA defines hunger as the personal and physical discomfort experienced because of lack of food. Food insecurity is the lack of consistent access to food to lead an active and healthy life.
To help us better understand this, we broke down the number of meals currently being served weekly in our county. In our quick look, we determined that while several are actively trying to provide assistance to the underserved in our county, on a weekly basis we still have about 1,500 residents that are not being served anywhere and are included as part of the food insecure individuals within our county lines.
To help the audience understand what this looks like, the extension office led those attending through an activity. It is the 20th of the month. Dividing into groups, we gave each group a family based on number in their household with the number of services they could use. Their family was left on the 20th with no more money or benefits for food. They quickly realized that, even if that family was lucky and they were able to get to every location that had a food pantry or served meals, they still did not have enough food to feed their family the remaining ten days of the month.
After this activity, through group discussion, we tried to identify the barriers. We looked at hidden populations that are food insecure and discussed how little things can make a big difference. Now that we know more about food insecurity, it is time to do more.
The Pendleton County Extension service left the group with a challenge and a goal worksheet. We asked the group to share this information with others in their circle. Several groups have already shared with groups they are a part of after attending the meeting. We will meeting again on Monday, July 31st at 6:30 p.m. to share our thoughts and start working on an action plan to address the food insecurity in Pendleton County.
We invite you to attend this meeting as we continue our conversation on hunger in Pendleton County. Since our first meeting, little things are already being done to make a big difference. Farmers are connecting with our resources, meals have been added for for our youth by providing them additional food during the summer months, and discussion on additional blessing boxes needed in our community (currently we only have three), and much more.
There are so many faces to this growing concern of food insecurity. You never know when that face might be yours. By working together, we can help those struggling.