LEXINGTON, Ky. – As the COVID-19 pandemic gets worse in Kentucky, so does food insecurity, especially in the rural areas. 

Research by Feeding America shows Kentucky’s food insecurity rate is currently more than 20%. While the food insecurity rate in the Commonwealth improved in 2019, it got worse during the pandemic because of the unique challenges posed in rural areas. 

“These challenges include an increased likelihood of food deserts with the nearest food pantry or food bank potentially hours away, job opportunities that are more concentrated in low-wage industries, and higher rates of unemployment and underemployment,” according to the report.

Projected rates of food insecurity in 2020. (Feeding America)

A recent study from Columbia University found the cost of groceries in rural areas is 4.2% higher than in urban areas and has risen during the pandemic.

Kentucky has the eighth-highest rate of food insecurity in the nation and the highest rate among adults ages 50-59 at 17.3%, which is well above the national average of 10.6%, according to Feeding America. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity among seniors in Kentucky was substantially higher than it was before the Great Recession. The elderly, who are already at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and represent a proportional percentage of Kentucky’s rural population, are more susceptible when they are food insecure. While 196,000 seniors in Kentucky are eligible for SNAP benefits, just 32% benefit from the program. Overall, half of Kentuckians who are food insecure are eligible for SNAP benefits.

God’s Pantry in Lexington serves 50 counties in Central and Eastern Kentucky in partnership with more than 400 food pantries and meal programs. God’s Pantry has distributed more than 15 million pounds of food since July 1 to the 253,010 food-insecure residents in the 50 counties it serves. Feeding America reports more than 662,000 Kentuckians – 1-in-7 people – struggle with hunger overall, of which nearly 200,000, or 1-in-5, are children. 

More than half of the counties in Kentucky, 71-of-120, have a child food insecurity rate of 20% or higher, and 67% of SNAP participants in Kentucky are families with children, according to the report. About half of all food-insecure Kentuckians are eligible for SNAP benefits. 

Magoffin County, in Eastern Kentucky, has the state’s highest rate of food-insecure children at 36.6% and Oldham County has the lowest at 7.7%. 

Michael Halligan, CEO of God’s Pantry, told Public News Service Kentucky in September his organization saw a spike in the need for food as cases of COVID-19 increased and furloughs and layoffs began. 

“Here in Eastern Kentucky, we saw as much as a 35% increase in several counties across our service area,” he said. “We had agencies that reported on a given day serving three times as many people as they would normally serve. Since the middle of March, we’ve seen a 20% increase in the amount of food that we have distributed to those who are food insecure. If the economic crisis from COVID-19 is similar to what we saw in 2008, then we would expect it to take up to a decade to return to normal levels prior to COVID-19.”

If you or someone you know could benefit from supplemental nutrition assistance (SNAP) they can find more information at the Cabinet for Health and Family Services website.