LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — With cuts to food benefits for some of the nation's most vulnerable being considered in Congress, hunger advocates say the impact would be felt locally.
As budget talks resume, some lawmakers in the House of Representatives want to see a significant reduction in funding to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).
The talks are being closely watched by nonprofits like the Christian Appalachian Project. Assistant director of communication, Tina Bryson, says they're always monitoring how local and state policy might impact their clients.
"You have to keep up with public policy when you're in the nonprofit space because, again, changes at the national level and the state level does impact how you provide services, how many services you can provide and how many families you can assist," said Bryson.
Bryson says anytime there are cuts on the federal level, it can impact the funding that the state level and trickle down to people in need in the community.
"It just creates a hardship for families who may already be struggling with the challenges of living in poverty," said Bryson.
According to their research, 1 in 4 people in their Appalachian service area are food insecure.
Feeding America Kentucky's Heartland estimates 139,020 Kentuckians were food insecure in 2021.
"There are just a lot of folks who struggle with food insecurity and that simply means they don't have enough nutritious, affordable food that makes it to the end of the month," said Bryson.
She says people are already supplementing where they lack by going to food banks or pantries run by churches and non-profits.
CAP is opening two additional pantries in Eastern Kentucky to meet a growing need they've seen since the pandemic.
Dozens lined up hours before the opening of God's Pantry Food Bank and the Northside Library's pantry on Wednesday.
People in line said long lines are common.
God's Pantry Food Bank says in 2023, the average number of households served is 773 per month. However, this August, they averaged 920 households.
They say August 2023 was the busiest month since May 2020, when they served 3111 households.
We also reached out to the State Cabinet for Health and Family Services. They say that no changes have been made at the federal level at this time.
