Feeding America’s latest Map the Meal Gap study estimates that food insecurity rates have increased from 1 in 5 children and 1 in 6 adults to 1 in 4 children and 1 in 5 adults in Ozarks Food Harvest’s service area. That means an estimated 214,000 people, including 62,000 children, experienced food insecurity in 2024.
When times are tough and budgets are tight, nutritious food is often the first thing households sacrifice to make ends meet. But when someone can only afford food with low nutritional value, it can impact their health over time – especially for children and older adults. That’s why Ozarks Food Harvest is piloting a Food is Medicine approach to help seniors maintain a balanced diet.
Ozarks Food Harvest will invest more than $258,000 this year to provide nutritious food to rural families facing hunger thanks to two recent grants from Feeding America and Tyson Foods.