- It is our privilege to welcome Linda Nageotte, President and Chief Operating Officer, Feeding America, to the podium today.

Her topic is ‘Food insecurity is pervasive.

It doesn't have to be.’ Here to introduce Ms. Nageotte is Dan Flowers, president and CEO of the Akron Canton Regional Food Bank.

We're really grateful to Dan for securing Linda as our speaker today, and Dan and his team will be hosting our Bringing It Home event on March 6th, where we will consider today's topic on a local level.

So, Dan, before you introduce Linda, if I could ask you to share a little bit more about what you have planned for that event.

- Sure.

- Dan, thank you.

- Yeah.

Thank you - Well, thank you very much, Barry.

Good afternoon, everyone, It is so great to be here with this lovely crowd, with colleagues from the Cleveland Food Bank and other food banks in the region here for this very important and pertinent conversation about food insecurity in this community and in our country.

I want to thank the Akron Roundtable and Barry Dunaway, who you just heard from, and as well as Joan Lauck and others, for their efforts to make this program happen.

And, of course, I want to extend the warmest welcome to everyone in attendance today and to those listening to the broadcast of this program on WKSU.

As we already mentioned, there will be a bringing it home session at the food Bank on March 6th, in which we will do a deeper dive into what the experience is for people when they are, having food insecurity present in their homes.

Now, I have to tell people when I finish a speech that if no one's told you that they love you today, I want you to know that the Akron Canton Regional Food Bank loves you.

And I say that first off because it's true.

And secondly, because on your best days, we will cheer for you and we will meet you with love on your worst days.

And often times for people, their very worst days are the days that they go into a food pantry having hit economic rock bottom, and we do our best to meet them with love.

There will be insights into what that experience is at our Bringing Home event on the 6th of March and registration, although limited, still has spaces available at the Akron Roundtable website.

Now, the past four years have been extraordinary times of both impact and change for your food bank, the Akron Canton Regional Food Bank, and for food banks across the country.

The work we do gained a significant spotlight as millions of Americans tuned into their evening news and saw impossibly long lines of cars being served at their local food bank during the pandemic.

That era left an indelible and transformational mark on the work that we do.

And today, America's food banks are still confronting the long lines, inflationary pressures and uncertainty that it brought.

I can vividly recall hearing from Roger Reed back in 2021, after he saw a picture in the paper of one of the lines that stretched from the food bank all the way down to in front of the Spaghetti Warehouse during the pandemic.

And Roger saying to me, Dan, I am so glad we did the campaign back in 2006 that put the food bank in the Larose building because the good work you're doing today is made possible by the capacity that we created at that time.

Indeed, the support of this community is the reason that we have a strong and viable food bank here.

It's the reason we opened a new purpose built food bank in Canton in 2021.

It's the reason the pantries that we operate directly at both our Akron and our Canton site served over 400,000 visitors last year alone.

And your support is the reason our combined network, and many of the people here today represent charities that are partners of the food bank.

And that combined network found and distributed $50 million worth of food to over 3.6 million visitors last year.

It was the biggest year in our history.

Thank you The work we do in this community.

Sits adjacent to the work done by 200 other food banks in this country.

And all of that levers up to make our national network, the Feeding America Network, the nation's largest charity, almost twice the size of our nation's second largest and most major markets in America.

Their food bank is now the largest charity.

And that is made possible.

Hear me now by the economic impact of fighting hunger and poverty.

At the same time, through the distribution of surplus donated and government foods which are under threat right now, Feeding America food banks are the cornerstone, our cornerstone agencies in their communities.

Then, as they have evolved, their programs have become more diverse and more integrated with partners, to address the root causes of both hunger and poverty.

I want to talk about all those things and more.

I'm proud to have my friend, the president and chief operating officer of Feeding America, Linda Nageotte, with us today.

Before assuming a very significant role she now holds at Feeding America, led us about 25 years as the CEO of Food Lifeline in Seattle and has long been a distinguished and beloved leader in our national network.

It was my honor to chair the selection committee that named Linda as a John Van Hugger Fellow, the highest honor achievable by any individual in this work.

And, Linda, you know, I've always been a fan.

So very, very proud of you.

And I'm very excited to hear your talk today about the scope of hunger in this country, the ever changing role and impact of food banks where it's all headed, and of course, what all of us can do to be a part of it.

Ladies and gentlemen, the president and chief operating officer of Feeding America, our nation's food bank network.

Linda Nageotte.

- Well, that was a really nice introduction, Dan.

Thank you.

And good afternoon.

It's heartening to look out over this crowd and see over 300 people who have chosen to take time out of your busy day to come and hear about one of the most significant challenges our society faces.

Significant because it's currently impacting 1 in 7 individuals, 1 in 5 children.

Important because it doesn't have to be that way.

At Food Lifeline, Our tagline was hunger doesn't have to happen.

And yet, today, it's one of the most persistent challenges we face.

I'm here to talk with you today about hunger in America, and I thought it might be helpful for me to start with the story of one of the people who has changed my life, who I met more than 30 years ago.

In 1993, I landed my first job out of grad school.

I became the executive director of a startup YWCA in Moscow, Idaho, and it was exciting to lead a small, emerging community organization focused on providing food and shelter to its community and focusing especially on women and their children experiencing homelessness.

On my very first day of that new job, I met a woman who changed my life forever.

Her name was Teresa.

Throughout her noted career, Teresa had been a university professor there in Moscow at the University of Idaho.

Teresa had been a university professor of physics.

She had guided the education and shaped the profession of hundreds of young people who pursued lifelong careers in science, and then, in her late 40s, Teresa suffered a massive stroke.

The stroke left Teresa unable to communicate.

Unable to walk.

Unable to feed herself, and most critically.

Unable to remember how to complete almost the most basic formulas of physics.

Over the many, many months of Teresa's recovery, she regained many of the faculties that the stroke had taken away.

But sadly, her capacity to teach was not one of these.

Teresa was also left with an extraordinary burden of medical debt.

She was an only child.

She had previously lost both parents and with no family support, and having burned through all her financial resources to try and pay off her bills, she was forced to declare bankruptcy At 48, She found herself without a job.

Her meager disability income couldn't cover her rent.

Teresa lost her apartment, and with nowhere else to turn, Teresa found her way to our small shelter and my office.

On my very first day at the job.

Through the case management we provided, Teresa was ultimately able to find a job.

She was only earning minimum wage, but it was at least a regular paycheck.

She was able to stay at our shelter long enough to save up for a deposit on a small studio apartment, and I mean small.

Through grants, we were able to put down her first and her last month's rent.

She moved out of our shelter and into her new home.

And in doing so, she joined the ranks of tens of millions of Americans who like her live paycheck to paycheck.

As long as nothing goes wrong, I'll be okay.

But one setback a flat tire, an illness, an injury, a flooded basement, a death in the family.

And that fragile balance falls apart.

Even a modest impact.

Like getting the list of school supplies that you need to buy to send your child back to school for a new school year, presents an extraordinary hardship that can take months to recover from.

Now, I mentioned at the beginning of my talk that I work for Feeding America, and I want to make sure that, you know about our national organization.

Dan mentioned that we are the nation's largest nonprofit organization.

That's not a mantle that we, are particularly proud to say we need to hold.

But we do very much appreciate that that spotlight gives us a chance to promote our mission and to squarely place on that platform the millions and millions of neighbors who turn to our local food banks and food pantry partners to put food on the table.

We are proud to serve a nationwide network of over 200 food banks and of course, the Akron Canton Regional Food Bank here in your community is one of our network members.

I've had such a privilege working alongside Dan for more than 20 years.

And Dan, thank you for the work that you do every day.

Thank you for the way that you contribute to our network doing all kinds of things big and small, hard and easy.

We really appreciate you.

Yes.

You know last year, our nation's network served more than 60,000 food pantries, meal programs and shelters across this nation.

Together, we distributed 7 billion pounds of food.

And that food was served to more than 53 million people.

Our vision at Feeding America is an America where no one is hungry.

Where every community and each person in it has the food they need, not just to survive, but to thrive.

Now, that may be our vision, but it is not our current reality.

I mentioned earlier, the USDA food security statistics that have recently shown us that more than 1 in 7 individuals in this nation faces food insecurity.

1 in 5 of our nation's children.

What I didn't mention is that these rates of food insecurity are the highest they have been since the Great Recession.

They are higher than even at the peak of the pandemic.

And this afternoon, we'll talk both about why hunger exists.

How we can come together to address its impacts today, and what it would take to end hunger in America for good.

During the 25 years that I spent as the CEO of the Feeding America Food Bank.

I was so proud to work alongside my CEO partners across the country.

Over these many years, we have learned so much about hunger and its root causes.

We understand, for example, that in this great nation, we produce more food every year than would be required to ensure that every person has enough nutritious food for themselves and for their families.

And we have also learned that in this great nation, almost 40% of the food that is produced annually goes to waste.

The Feeding America National Network has developed extraordinary capacity to partner with our nation's farmers, food manufacturers, processors, packers, wholesalers and retailers, and dining establishments to identify wholesome food that can't be sold.

But instead can be donated.

We put those resources to good work, ensuring community members have access to the food that they need.

Like your local food bank, our members have become anchor organizations in their communities.

Individually, their fleets of trucks are on the road every day picking up donations from generous food donors.

Their warehouses receive and distribute tens of millions of pounds of food each year.

Our nation's food banks welcome thousands of community members into their facilities each year as volunteers who pour their hands and their hearts into our work, helping us sort and prepare product for distribution to our partner agencies.

Now, every year, the volume of food that we procure and distribute grows.

And we will continue to expand the amount of food that we rescue to help ensure community members can put food on their family table.

But we understand that doing so only solves food insecurity for today.

Because hunger is not the problem in and of itself.

Hunger is a symptom of its root causes.

Poverty, stagnant wages, the increasing costs of housing, food, childcare and health care, among other critical household expenses.

The lack of grocery stores and an increasing number of rural communities and urban neighborhoods.

Unexpected household crises like illness, fire and floods.

Excuse me.

And households that face these issues don't just struggle with food insecurity.

They tell us that they are in a continuous cycle of impossible choices.

Do I pay the rent this month or do I put food on the table?

Do I pay the utility bill to keep the lights and the heat on?

Or do I feed my kids?

Do I refill my prescription or do I buy groceries?

And the work that Dan and I do, we find that most people hold stereotypical images and perceptions about people experiencing food insecurity and hunger.

But if you ask us or any of our peers, what we will tell you is that these stereotypes are largely false.

But here are some things that are true about the people that we serve.

Senior citizens make up almost a quarter of the neighbors who are seeking our help.

14 million of the people our nation's network feeds are children.

Hunger’s impacts are disproportionate for many people and communities.

It is absolutely true that people who are black, Hispanic, people who are Native American experience food insecurity and hunger at rates that are between 2 and 4 times the size of the average population.

It's also true that people who experience disability.

Single parent households headed by women, folks from the LGBTQ community, all experience hunger at disproportionate rates.

Of the working age adults we serve, more than 20% found themselves into our lines because of medical debt.

The vast majority of working age adults we serve are employed.

Many are working multiple jobs but can't make ends meet.

In fact, more than 35% of the people served by our nation's food bank network earn too much to qualify for federal food programs, but not enough to keep food on the table.

Now I'm going to pause because I really, really need you to hear that last statistic.

More than 35% earn too much to qualify for any kind of federal food assistance, but not enough to keep food on the table.

When Dan and I started in this work, that number was less than 5%, the fastest growing proportion of people turning to their local food bank are workers whose income won't cover the basic necessities.

Today in America, what's known as the living wage.

MIT has an amazing living wage calculator if you'd like to visit their website.

The amount of money, a living wage.

It's the amount of money a household needs to earn to afford the basic necessities in many, many communities.

In most communities, the living wage is significantly greater than the minimum wage, also in many communities it's greater than the median wage.

That's true in Chicago, where I live.

Now, here in Ohio, the minimum wage is $10.70 an hour.

But in Akron, the living wage for a single adult with no child is $20.08 an hour.

Add one child to the mix, and your living wage needs to rise to $38.09.

Simply put, more and more people need to turn to the charitable food sector because even though they are working, sometimes more than one job, their wages do not cover their basic necessities.

And that is grim.

But it's not the end of the story.

Because Dan and myself and the many food bankers who are present here in the room today, we have recently had the opportunity to experience the positive impacts that happen when smart solutions are brought to the table.

So let's talk a little bit about what works.

And to do that I'd like to tell you another story.

And this one takes us back to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Dan mentioned it a bit in his opening remarks.

You all may remember that when the pandemic hit and lockdowns were ordered, millions of people across our nation were unable to work.

Panic buying meant that the shelves at grocery stores were empty, and at the food bank that I was leading in Seattle, we were so extraordinarily grateful that our community rallied behind us.

And I know that the same thing happened all across our country.

Generous donations from community members, from corporations and foundations poured in, enabling us to purchase much needed food.

State governments stepped forward and coordinated disaster response style to organize statewide food responses.

As Dan mentioned, food banks nationwide pivoted from our traditional operating models to drive thru food distributions, and soon the nation's TV channels were full of news stories showing thousands of cars winding their way through giant parking lots at stadiums and coliseums for food distributions Local schools opened their cafeterias for meal production, and school kids could pick up the breakfasts and lunches they would have been served had their schools been open.

The federal government stepped in with both funds and food supplies to help feed communities.

In these early pandemic days, and these surges in food resources enabled our nation's food bank system to feed the growing number of neighbors who needed our help.

Lines that food distributions were longer, but our food supplies were more ample, and we were better able to respond to the increasing need and food insecurity rates.

Even though 60 million Americans turned to the charitable food sector.

Food insecurity rates did not rise during the pandemic.

After we got past that initial pandemic hump.

There were some different kinds of interventions that kicked in, and there were three critical things that occurred.

First, the federal government modestly expanded the amount of Snap benefits, giving recipients more resources to purchase groceries for their family.

And not only did this help those recipients, it was - It was also a critical investment in local economies.

Did you know that for every $1 of Snap benefits spent in your local grocery store, there is an estimated $1.52 generated economic stimulus in your local community?

Now, the second thing that happened was that for the 2021 and 2022 school year, there was universal free breakfast and lunch for all school age kids.

And the third thing that happened was that the federal government enacted a child tax credit.

And let me tell you what happened.

As soon as the supports kicked in the lines and our distributions got shorter.

The number of people turning to the food bank system shrunk precipitously, not just a little demand from pantries went down, not just a little.

It plummeted.

And when USDA food insecurity data was released, it showed a measurable decrease in food insecurity.

And then when annual poverty studies were completed, the results shocked even us.

Levels of poverty across the US showed marked contraction.

But more importantly, rates of childhood poverty were literally cut in half.

These federal programs, they worked.

And I know that there are all kinds of perceptions that government programs are wasteful.

But let me make sure, you know, the Snap program.

It's actually way, way more efficient than the charitable food system.

For every meal's worth of food that we provide, the Snap program provides ten meals worth for the same cost.

And then the next thing that happened.

The child tax credit expired at the end of 2021.

And over the next year, child poverty began going back up.

More families began turning to the charitable food sector again.

At the end of the 2022 school year, universal free school meals expired.

Our system saw another big jump in need and then expanded Snap benefits expired at the end of February 2023, and our lines dramatically increased again.

And then inflation kicked in that summer.

It raised the cost of just about everything a household needs to purchase, and all across the nation at our nation's food banks need absolutely exploded.

It hasn't come down.

So that leads us today to today, and it finds us a little older and a little wiser.

Our system learned so much during the pandemic.

We saw what it could look like when our communities make a concerted effort to come together to feed their neighbors in need.

This was an extraordinary show of compassion and care for one another.

It illustrated the power of community.

And we have this awesome opportunity to flex that muscle any time we want to.

In this community, there are dedicated donors to the local organizations that are working to ensure your neighbors have enough food to feed their families.

And I want to just take a moment and send a huge shout out and a massive dose of gratitude for the generous individuals, the families, corporations, foundations, farmers, food producers, wholesalers, retailers that support your charitable food system right here.

Thank you.

You are making a huge difference for people right here in your home community.

And for those of you who are in this room today or watching this address who haven't become contributors to our work, please just come join us.

It's actually a lot of fun.

We've seen the magic that happens when communities rise up all together to make sure everyone has the food they need to thrive.

We did it together during the pandemic and we can do it together every single day.

So please come join us.

There are food bankers all over this room.

Could you stand for a moment so that folks know who you are and where you're seated?

If you are not yet connected to this cause, I'd like for you to identify one of those people and hit them up before you leave this room, because there is a great opportunity for you to be part of our work.

And as important as it is for us to make sure people have food on their table today, we have seen what happens when smart investments are made in critical programs, expanding Snap benefits, making the child tax credit permanent, and enacting universal free school meals could help us end hunger forever.

Now, I shared at the beginning of this talk, our vision at Feeding America is an America where no one is hungry.

We've seen what is possible to achieve.

We've lived it's possibility.

Now, we're not so naive to think that all of those things could happen at once.

We're not so naive to think that it would be easy to enact even one.

But we do believe there is an opportunity right amongst us that we could act on today.

Both the outgoing administration and our new administration have signaled their strong support for reinstating the child tax credit.

That's the legislation that literally cut child poverty in half the last time it was enacted.

So just imagine with me, just for a moment, that we as a civil society, would make conscious choices that could forever eradicate hunger in America by joining together today, by volunteering, by financially supporting your local food bank, or one of the many local organizations that serve your neighbors needing food assistance by donating food, by advocating for change.

These are actions that you can take to help us end hunger today.

And by joining together to support smart legislation like a child tax credit, we can create outcomes like cutting child poverty in half, radically changing the future for our nation's children, and charting a path to end hunger for tomorrow.

Now I've come to the end of my talk, and soon we'll get a chance to talk with one another.

But I'd like to leave my time with you.

By circling back to the way that I started it with Theresa.

I told you that meeting Theresa changed my life.

And it wasn't just meeting her or hearing her story or spending time with her.

That changed me, though that did.

It was also the growing understanding that her story sparked in me, that there are tens of millions of Theresa's in America, tens of millions of people who are struggling to keep their head above water week after week, month after month, year after year.

And it doesn't have to be this way.

I mentioned that Food Lifeline.

We said hunger doesn't have to happen.

Dan and I and our colleagues nationwide.

We welcome you to join this good work because we know together we can end hunger.

Thank you.

Thank you for sharing your stories and information with us.

I think we all learned a lot.

And probably left us with a lot of questions, too.

So hopefully, you can see that you can, ask your questions there by using the QR code.

We've already got a few.

So thank you for agreeing to, take some questions today, too.

A few people have asked this question, you alluded to that obviously there, you know, changes at the federal level and there has been some concerns about cutbacks for some of the safety net programs, whether it be Medicaid or things for for folks who may be struggling.

Is there concern about that for those, you know, in your area and what's being done to prepare, for potential increase in need?

Yeah, thanks for that question.

It's really timely.

Yes.

We're concerned, there are, concerns around, a federal food support program called TEFAP, The Emergency Food Assistance Program.

It is a program that is operated by the US Department of Agriculture.

And it actually supports our nation's farmers.

And, it also has the fantastic impact of providing, 20% of the food our nation's food bank network distributes each year, to the neighbors that we serve.

That program, is under attack.

And we are concerned for its longevity.

We are also concerned about the future of snap.

We have been hearing, multitude, from a multitude of, of avenues that there are plans to cut, snap.

And I want to underscore, that cuts to snap, of course, negatively impact, low income households that are working to put food on the table.

But I also want to make sure that, you know, that cuts to snap hurt your local food economy, your local economy writ large.

Again, every dollar in Snap that is spent in your community generates a $1.52 in economic stimulus for your community.

So when we cut a program like that, we do it in spite of ourselves.

There's also, misconception about who receive snap.

And we've recently had the opportunity to speak directly with neighbors who access food from our charitable food sector.

And we invited them to share with us, their, political perspectives.

And what we learned from them.

Was that, no surprise.

Folks who visit your local food pantry voted in this last election the same way that the general population voted in this last election.

So folks who are, recipients, of federal food support, are on either sides of the aisle.

Kind of a follow up to that question.

Some people are asking what, feeding and- What Feeding America and the network is doing if you're working with the current presidential administration and that to, to try to share the stories that you shared here and the importance and then kind of a follow up to that, too what you guys are doing, but also what everybody here can do.

What's the most effective way for just everyday person to, lobby and share these concerns?

Thank you very much.

You know, hunger is not a partisan issue.

Hunger happens to people of every political belief.

And at Feeding America, we worked really hard to be a nonpartisan organization, because we don't just feed the people who sit on one side of the aisle.

We feed all of the people who need assistance putting food on the table.

And that means we need to speak with every lawmaker, and we want to be in every room.

And we want to see that every table where important decisions are being made that impact low income Americans.

So we are, deep in conversation with lawmakers sharing the story of the impact of these programs, sharing information about what cuts to these programs would mean, not just for the people who are recipients of them, but of the communities in which those, those neighbors serve.

And as I mentioned in my talk, you play a really pivotal role in our success.

You have five key lawmakers that you could be connecting with to talk to them about the importance of these programs.

So I want to make sure that, you know, that you should be speaking with, your congressional representatives.

You should be picking up the phone and talking to the white House and sharing the message that these programs are smart investment in all of America.

Obviously, you rely on a lot of the food manufacturers and partners, you know, for your supplies.

But we also, as a country, have an obesity problem.

So how do you balance that?

You know, the donations you may get, particularly if it's sweetened beverages or snack foods that could contribute to the problem.

How do you balance that to make sure that the recipients are getting healthy foods?

I want to be really, really clear, to say that hunger is not a moral crisis.

Hunger is a public health crisis.

And we see that many people who turn to the charitable food sector, are also struggling with obesity.

In fact, 68% of people who are standing in line at a local food pantry have both food insecurity and some type of diet related chronic illness like diabetes or heart disease or high blood pressure.

So hunger is a public health issue.

We understand that the people that we serve, tell us there are three types of food that are most important to them.

Produce, meat, dairy, these are food items that we pursue relentlessly.

Produce is the number one category of product that we distribute, because we want to be responsive to the needs of our community.

But things like dairy and meat are less available in the donated stream.

And more often we need to purchase those products.

So when I told you that you could make a really big impact by being a financial contributor to your local food bank, that is one of the ways that we would put your resources to good work, helping leverage their buying power to be able to source the foods that can contribute to the most optimal health outcomes for the neighbors that we serve.

And anybody who has gone grocery shopping lately knows egg prices are up.

The price of most things are up these days.

Are you seeing an increase in need as a result?

And also, how is that hitting Feeding America and the different organizations that have to buy, like you said, some of those products that cannot be donated.

Every single year since those federal programs that I described, expired.

We have seen a significant annual uptick in rates of food insecurity and the number of people who have turned to our charitable food sector.

We have responded by distributing more and more and more food each year.

Last year, 7 billion pounds of food collectively to 53 million Americans.

And it was not enough.

7 billion pounds came nowhere near meeting the need.

And when we talked to our members nationwide, what they tell us is we are distributing more food than we have ever distributed, and our warehouse is empty.

We talked about some of the groups that are at risk.

We did get a question about what steps are being taken to address, food insecurity among college students, particularly those who may be, parenting, you know, caregivers and first generation attendees veterans, some of the more, marginalized groups.

- Yeah.

Thank you.

That's a great question.

No more than 44%, of community college students, experienced food insecurity, almost half, of those students are experiencing food insecurity.

And so nationwide, our network, is standing up extraordinary programs that bring food resources on to college campuses, presenting them in ways that are accessible and affirming for, for college students.

That's one of the things that is fantastic about this network is our ability to, pivot and to innovate when new challenges arise, our network finds the innovative ways to be responsive and to bring food to the places that it's needed the most.

We did get a question kind of, for planning ahead.

We know that there's, unfortunately not a quick fix right now.

And with the, USDA showing the future food production needs to double in the US, to feed our growing population.

How's Feeding America planning for the future of food insecurity?

And looking ahead, you know, not just next year, but maybe 20 years down the line.

We have both, short and long range plans, to be able to help meet the need and, mitigate the risks that are ahead in the short term.

We've learned valuable lessons from the pandemic, and we understand that in communities all across this country, there is untapped power that we can tap into to respond to spikes in need.

So we are thinking at the national organization about ways that we can activate disaster response style.

Should something like, a cut to the TEFAP program happen, so that we can quickly activate our network of, food suppliers, our generous donors, to let them know that the time is now to kick into gear and to ensure that our nation's food banks have access to the food they need in the long term.

We are working to continue to drill into the individual channels of food, where we still have opportunity to grow donations of food.

We're looking for ways that we can optimize our nation's, charitable food sector, supply chain.

Our network owns more trucks than Walmart.

That's probably surprising.

Our network owns more trucks than Walmart.

What would happen if we reduce the the power of AI and predictive analysis to understand what food is needed, where, and then to use the power of our nation's supply chain in the charitable food sector to get that food to the places that it's needed in more efficient ways.

So short term opportunities and long term opportunities.

We also got a question about, what the requirements are.

So, around your network as far as who can qualify to get assistance, is there typically some kind of income requirement or what is the, the requirements to be served?

We don't have requirements.

If you are facing food insecurity and you come to our doorstep, we believe you.

And back to the disparities that you mentioned that there are certain populations, Black Americans, LGBTQ plus, that are at higher risk for food insecurity.

Across the network.

Can you give examples of some, programs or initiatives to try to, address that?

I'm so glad that this question was asked.

Because it's really important, for you all to know that across the country, at our nation's food banks, we are keenly aware of the way food insecurity disproportionately impacts different people and communities.

And we understand that it is both our right and our responsibility to dig deeply into the data and the information that we can glean, both, from, research and evaluation sources, but most critically from people facing hunger themselves.

The people who are the biggest experts on the issue of hunger are the people who are experiencing it.

And this is a lesson that I learned personally during the pandemic, when I came to understand that my food bank that was distributing 80 million pounds of food a year to more than 400 community partners in the western half of Washington state, were leaving communities completely behind.

And we were doing that because we were looking at, data that was all rolled up.

But when we, put our fingers on data that was disaggregated, that helped us understand the unique experiences of, demographically diverse people and communities, then we had the opportunity to understand that hunger's impacts were disparate from community to community, from neighborhood to neighborhood.

And then we could go out into those places and we could identify community partners that were best positioned to meet that community's needs and ally with them.

And instead of us showing up to say, we're here with all the answers, which is dangerous, we could show up and say, we want to talk to you and learn from you how we can stand alongside you and support you in the work you're doing to best meet the needs of your community.

How can we be your ally?

How can we work together to face this?

We added 75 new partner agencies that had been working under our noses for decades, and we were ashamed to admit we hadn't build those relationships.

And when we did build those relationships, extraordinary things could happen.

We learned our donors learned neighborhoods could better thrive.

So this work is critically important.

The term food insecurity might not be a familiar term to some people.

Can you give a definition of what that means?

And the impact of that?

So food insecurity is a term, that, was brought into formal parlance, in the early 2000s.

And it was intended to be a really specific, effort to be precise, to be precise about what we mean.

Hunger is very generalized.

I was hungry before I sat down and had lunch.

And then I wasn't.

Food insecurity is different.

Food insecurity is a measure of the extent to which a household feels certain that they have access to the resources to put food reliably on the table for their household members.

There is a series of 18 questions that, the USDA and the Census Bureau ask a statistically significant number of households across the country every single year.

Those 18 questions, provide a deep insight, into, households that are food secure, meaning they know they've got the resources and it's not questionable whether or not they'd be able to put food on the table to those who are food insecure, lacking sufficient confidence that they can put, their hands on the resources to feed their households, consistently or very low food insecurity.

Which means not only are we not sure over the next meal will come from, but we've also likely skipped several in the last few days or weeks.

Thank you.

As we mentioned, it was mentioned earlier, the Beacon Journal has done a series on food deserts which showed 29,000 Summit County residents live in a food desert.

So basically an area where it's, you know, lower income and also a mile or more, more than a mile to get to a full grocery store that has fresh food, produce, those things like that.

Can you talk about, a little bit why there are so few grocery stores, particularly in inner cities and downtowns?

I'm not a grocery retailer, so I shouldn't and I won't try to speak for, for that sector.

But, what I will say, is that, food deserts exist, both in rural communities, and also, in urban neighborhoods, and, the way, that our, nation's food system, has, consolidated, has left communities, in circumstances where it is unaffordable for a large retailer to position one of their, stores, in particular neighborhoods.

And because of the way that sector, has changed so dramatically over the course of the last few decades, it makes it also very, very challenging for community based grocers to just make it, the, the competition is so fierce.

And so there are all kinds of really interesting, new models that are showing up, including partnerships between nonprofit, hunger relief organizations and For-Profit entities, that are bringing, low cost food into those places and helping to ensure community members have access to all the food that they need.

We're going to need to flex all of our muscles, as communities to figure out the smart solutions that can address this problem.

But food deserts keep food out of hands of far too many of our neighbors nationwide.

I think we have time probably for one more question.

I know that we've talked about, children being impacted.

One of the groups has impacted by food insecurity and hunger.

We do have students here with us today in the group and wondering what you might say to students, you know, some of whom may be going home to, empty shelves.

a refigerator doesn't have any food options, and what message we could send to them.

I saw y’all So glad that you are here.

I want to make sure that you know that you are the experts and you are our future.

And your voice is powerful when you choose to use it.

So I want you to think about those times and those places where you can find a partner who can help to amplify your work.

One of the things that we're trying to do as food banks is to understand that we have extraordinary reach and extraordinary platforms, but our voice is not the voice that needs to be centered.

It's your voice that we need to lift up.

And we're working to make space for our neighbors, for our, for the kids in our service areas.

To take that mic and to talk about the experience that you are having every day because you can help shift opinions and change minds, and your voice is powerful.

- Linda, thank you.

Thank you so much for being with us today, sharing facts about hunger in America and also dispelling myths.

I think there's many of us probably walked into this room with.

So thank you.

Thank you so much for being with us.

Dan, you were right.

Linda was definitely - Linda, Please stay up on stage.

We have something for you.

But, Linda was definitely the right guest.

So thank you for inviting Linda to speak.

I'd like to invite Angie Silva to the stage, to present our signature contemplative sun.

This work of art was designed exclusively for the Akron Roundtable by Akron artist Don Drumm, and is sponsored by Gardens Wealth Management.

- Thank you so much for coming.

(inaudible) - Thank you.

- You're very welcome.

This has been a production of Akron Roundtable, PBS Western Reserve, the University of Akron, and Ideastream.

Public media.