In an area of the state that feels things harder because of a depressed economy, recent catastrophic flooding, plus the challenges created by a rural and rugged terrain, food banks and community kitchens in eastern Kentucky are preparing for an expected large increase in people needing food if the federal government shutdown continues and nutrition supplemental benefits are cut off for families.
In Letcher County, longtime food insecurity advocate Valerie Ison-Horn said people were already contacting a multitude of charity groups for help after the announcement was made by the federal government that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – better known as SNAP – would be stopping benefit disbursement in November because of the gridlock in Congress. Ison-Horn is a past Eastern Kentucky Leadership Award winner known for her relief work in Letcher County with Community Agriculture Nutritional Enterprises or – CANE Kitchen. She told WUKY News that her board members have been meeting to come up with a plan for the projected increased number of families in the mountains in need of food.
Located in the old Whitesburg High School, CANE is a 9,000-square-foot commercial kitchen that serves as a permanent outlet for local farmers to create value-added products to take to market. The group also helps with food distribution to families in need. Ison-Horn serves as CANE Kitchen board chair as well as the chair for the Whitesburg Farmers Market. She said during the COVID-19 pandemic CANE Kitchen served over 750,000 meals to families in eight counties. Over a million meals were dispersed to the community in response to the 2022 east Kentucky flood crisis.
Kentucky Senator Scott Madon, who represents the 29th District in the mountains, was recently in Washington D.C. attending a legislative energy conference. During his time in the nation’s capital. Madon said he made sure to relay how detrimental the lack of SNAP help would be, especially to families in eastern Kentucky. Madon told WUKY News that state legislators were nervous about how a prolonged federal shutdown could impact budget planning.
While the federal government stalemate continues, outreaches in eastern Kentucky like CANE Kitchen are getting ready for the worst, especially since the holiday season is nearing. Ison-Horn and her group have decided to hand out Ramen noodles for Halloween to feed children and are brainstorming other ideas to make sure families are fed.