Kentucky's hunger problem is getting worse.

Map the Mail Gap a yearly report from Feeding America shows that food insecurity in Kentucky is the worst it's ever been.

So the food insecure is that you don't know literally when you wake up in the morning and you don't know whether you're going to be able to eat or not.

Which is quite different, because a lot of times people will talk about hunger and food insecurity simultaneously.

But food insecurity is you don't have access to fresh food when you want it and when you need it, and you don't know when it's coming.

We haven't seen these kind of numbers since the Great Recession in 2008.

It's up about six and a half, 7%.

It's the worst numbers we've ever seen in the history of the research shows across the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Is that 1 in 6 Kentuckians are food insecure.

Here in central and eastern Kentucky, it's 1 in 5 and 19 of the most food insecure counties in the United States are here in central and eastern Kentucky.

And in those 19 counties, it's 1 in 4 factors that contribute to food insecurity are numerous in terms of one, that the number one driver we all know is aware of is poverty.

You know, poverty drives food insecurity.

But along with that, you have, housing or lack thereof, lack the access to housing, lack, of access to education, lack of access to health care.

And these are known as the salt in terms of health.

When you don't have those things, you know, and that's when you experience the food insecurity, in your community.

In some instances, we've seen an increase over the last couple of years due to reduction in federal benefits coming out of the pandemic, maximum allotment of snap child tax credit in the stimulus checks that many people benefited from during the pandemic.

When I think about the work that is necessary to successfully reduce food insecurity to help address hunger at the federal level, we need a strong farm bill, one that is relevant to today.

The farm bill, is passed about every five years.

Right now.

The federal government is two years behind passing the next farm bill.

The nutrition title authorizes and helps pay for snap.

It helps pay for USDA food programs.

The egg Committee in the House, recommended a $300 million cut to Snap, and they also recommended that's federally.

And they recommended that those benefits be transferred to state authority.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky cannot afford right to be able to cover, federal benefits.

Public sector and private sector are not going to be able to make up the gap.

It to give you an example, $1 that's invested in dairy care in a food bank.

It's going to provide two meals for each dollar that's invested.

For each snap dollar, it's nine meals.

We could have all the philanthropy and support in our community to to be provided for us.

And yet we could not make up that gap.

You know, we realize that, cuts need to be made, things need to be improved.

You know, I believe every, every person recognizes that.

But to the degree that these cuts are being proposed, it is just it is just it's unimaginable in terms of thinking of the impact that it's going to have on the most vulnerable population.

People, it's going to take a while years to recover.

If these cuts go through, years to recover from it.

Other safety net programs under the farm bill that could lose funding, the National School Lunch Program, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which provides food to low income seniors.

And the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which distributes food to food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, and other emergency feeding organizations.

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