By Mary Hennigan for The Arkansas Advocate.
Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Arkansas News Service reporting for The Arkansas Advocate-Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation-Public News Service Collaboration.

More than 567,000 Arkansans — 18.6% of the state’s total population — know what it’s like to experience food insecurity and struggle to find access to healthy food.

Arkansas’ food insecurity rate in 2022 was the second highest in the nation, with only Mississippi in front by 0.2%. This top two pairing is not new, however, as Arkansas has trailed Mississippi for the last decade, according to Feeding America data released in May.

Feeding America was established as a national nonprofit in the 1960s and is part of a network that organizes with food banks and other meal assistance programs, including the Arkansas Food Bank. The nonprofit has mapped food insecurity data down to the county level for more than a decade; the most recent information reports findings from 2022.

The food insecurity rate in Arkansas has been steadily increasing since 2020, and the 2022 rate was the highest it’s reached in five years, according to Feeding America. Arkansas also ranked second nationwide for the highest food insecurity rate among children, with nearly one in four children lacking access to healthy options.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Brian Burton, CEO of the Arkansas Food Bank. “I can’t say I’m surprised because there’s been sort of a vortex of pressures and economic events … just the inflation that has put lower income families in a real bind in our country. They can’t catch a break.”

Burton said he thinks the increased food insecurity rate could be related to the rising cost of groceries and the loss of additional assistance since the COVID-19 public health emergency ended.

“I think we are a state that has under participated in public assistance programs,” Burton said. “We’re one of the lowest participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and that is self-inflicted harm.”

Last year the Arkansas Legislature approved a bill that raised the asset limit for SNAP, commonly referred to as food stamps, from $2,250 for most families to $6,000. This change expanded the qualifications for people in need, but not to its originally intended level.

The bill initially sought to raise the limit to $12,000, but sponsor Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, lowered it to have a stronger chance of approval. At the time, Dismang said he thought $6,000 was too low and discouraged poor Arkansans from saving enough money to become financially stable.

Having any SNAP asset limit is a barrier for folks, Burton said. He said he would rather see the limit be removed entirely so it wouldn’t be a “hindrance to someone who’s trying to move out of poverty.”

The existing limit is one feature that could stop someone who falls in Arkansas’ ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) population from qualifying for assistance. The ALICE population includes people with income levels too high for programs like SNAP, but they still struggle to pay for their basic needs.

The Feeding America report isn’t limited to people who fall below the federal poverty level; it includes others who have difficulties accessing healthy food. Burton said the study is self reporting, which means more Arkansans than the reported 587,000 could be food insecure.

County snapshot

Every county in Arkansas reported a food insecurity rate higher than the national average of 13.5%, which Burton agreed shows that the issue is not dependent on rural or urban settings.

Searcy County, located in north central Arkansas, reported the highest overall rate at 24.5%. 

Giezele Treat, director of the Searcy County Senior Center, was unsurprised to hear the county ranked first. 

“It’s just sad,” Treat said. “We’re a poor county.”

Located in Marshall, any resident older than 60 can visit the senior center to receive a meal, Treat said. A staff dietician ensures the meals are well balanced and nutritional. Menu picks can include hamburgers and beef stroganoff with accompanying vegetables and bread, Treat said.

Staff also dispatches meals to about 70 households in Searcy County through Meals on Wheels, Treat said. Both hot and frozen meals are available to people who meet homebound criteria, meaning they physically can’t get food for themselves.

Burton, who has worked closely with people experiencing food insecurity for nearly three decades, said the toll it takes on one’s body is visible.

“It ages a person — the strain, anxiety and stress that are created by that constant worry,” he said. “The result of years of poor diets and nutrition when someone does not have sufficient resources to buy healthier, more expensive food … you see that shorten their life expectancy.” 

Phillips County, located along the state’s eastern border, reported the highest rate of food insecurity among children with 45.8%, according to Feeding America.

Burton said children experiencing malnourishment are largely affected in the classroom.

“They are not as alert, their bodies are not developing to their potential, and it’s particularly harmful, I think, in the youngest years of physical development,” he said.

Feeding America also reported the food insecurity rate among Arkansas’ Black, Hispanic and white populations. The rates came in at 30%, 22% and 16%, respectively.

“One out of three of our African-American neighbors struggle with food insecurity,” Burton said. “That would be called an epidemic. It’s not just something that happened in the last year; I think this is a result of years and decades of people who have been marginalized, obstacles they’ve had to transcend and limited access to opportunity.”

Statewide efforts

Food insecurity doesn’t have a simple solution. Arkansas has a myriad of organizations and programs scattered across the state that help residents access food, including the Arkansas Food Bank and its participating pantries.

“It’s a complex problem, but we can all be a part of the solution,” Burton said. “We can all donate to our local food banks and our favorite charities that are doing heroic, life-changing work on the front lines.

Last September the Arkansas Rice Federation donated 240,000 pounds of rice to the Arkansas Food Bank. In November, Arkansas State University joined the fight against hunger and announced it partnered with Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry to provide beef jerky snacks to school children.

The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, a prominent food assistance nonprofit, addresses hunger by promoting nutrition education, securing funding, increasing out-of-school meal participation, advocating for food policy and more.

In January, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the state would participate in a federal food assistance program called the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer. The program provides students’ families with money for meals while school is not in session. It starts in June.

“That’s a bright spot on the horizon,” Burton said. “That’s work that our own [U.S.] Sen. John Boozman helped bring about. … It’s a brand new program that could bring tens of millions of dollars into the state if everybody would participate in it.”


Mary Hennigan wrote this article for The Arkansas Advocate.


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Federal programs supporting local food purchasing by food banks and schools have helped feed communities and support farmers but the Trump administration has cut those programs.

Last fall, the Biden administration announced more than $1 billion for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement and the Local Food for Schools program, originally designed to bolster local food networks during the pandemic.

BJ Edwards, executive director of the Wyoming Food Coalition, said farmers and ranchers plan seasons and even years in advance, to fulfill those orders and make infrastructure improvements.

"Those are the people I worry about the most," Edwards explained. "The ones that have already invested their time and effort and money in those projects and now they're unsure of what's going to happen."

The cuts mean there will not be another round of funding, like the $500,000 Food Bank of Wyoming received in 2023 to buy roughly 200,000 pounds of locally grown food for distribution. The changes also affect the amount of local food schools can purchase, which grew by 2,000% in the last year, according to the Wyoming Department of Education.

Other programs potentially affected by further USDA cuts are part of the Natural Resource Conservation Service.

Mike Lavender, policy director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, noted because those are more landscape-focused, they could have long-term effects.

"It's not only about the immediate impacts to farm viability and livelihoods," Lavender pointed out. "It's about what the future of the food and farm system looks like, and what opportunities we are or are not creating for growers in the mid- to long-term future."

They include conservation initiatives for grazing lands, wetlands, watersheds, wildlife habitats and forests, as well as agricultural and other easements.


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By Nina B. Elkadi for Sentient.
Broadcast version by Trimmel Gomes for Mississippi News Connection reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration

The cost to feed a family in the United States has increased by 50 percent since the early days of the pandemic in 2020. Wages have not increased at the same rate, causing many families to feel burdened by the struggle to make ends meet. Still, corporations are finding ways to make it by; in fact, corporate profits are higher than ever before, including in the egg industry.

A new report from Food & Water Watch details how egg companies have recorded record-profits in spite of the avian flu outbreak. The report looked at the corporate profits of one of the country’s largest egg producers, Cal-Maine, and found that despite not initially being affected by avian flu, the egg producer jacked up its prices. Even though the American Southeast “remained free of bird flu in its table egg flocks until January 2025 …retail egg prices in the Southeast rose alongside January 2023’s national price spikes.”

Amanda Starbuck, Research Director at Food & Water Watch, tells Sentient that corporations are “profiting off this crisis.” In January, a group of Democratic lawmakers wrote to President Donald Trump asking him to investigate price-fixing in the egg industry.

On March 6, the United States Department of Justice announced it will be investigating Cal-Maine and other corporations for price-fixing. This isn’t the first time the company has been investigated for such actions. In 2023, Cal-Maine and other egg producers were ordered to pay $53 million after being found guilty of price-fixing.

Yet by mid-March, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency announced it was taking aim at the DOJ to begin cutting costs at the agency. Attorney General Pam Bondi has agreed to help with this effort and the agency created a committee to do so: JUST-DOGE. Some of the first cuts being made target consultants on anti-trust cases.

The increase in corporate profits illustrates the ability corporations have to increase their revenue in times of crisis, the Food & Water Watch researchers say. During the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, Cal-Maine experienced record-breaking corporate profits and high dividends for shareholders. If, and when, avian flu abates, these egg producers could keep prices high — unless the federal government intervenes or consumer interest in eggs wanes.

In some regions, like the Midwest, egg production was about the same at the end of 2024 as it was in the middle of 2024. Yet prices for a dozen eggs almost doubled. Without intervention, Starbuck says, corporations do not have an incentive to bring prices back down, assuming market demand stays at least constant.

“Even if we were able to eradicate this disease, prices might go down a little bit, but I don’t foresee us ever going back to the days of a carton of eggs for one dollar,” Starbuck says.

The DOJ investigation is in the “very early stages.” Since the investigation was announced, egg prices have fallen to their lowest levels since December in some parts of the country, a trend largely being attributed to decreased demand and fewer avian flu outbreaks. Just as quickly as they increased prices, egg producers are now, in-part, responding to market conditions driven by consumers feeling the squeeze.


Nina B. Elkadi wrote this article for Sentient.


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School staffing shortages can affect nutrition in Kentucky school districts, as many districts across the state rely on frozen, processed breakfast and lunch options from conglomerates.

Now, some cooperatives are helping schools with the bidding process to use their dollars for locally sourced produce, dairy and meat.

Alex Smith, food service program coordinator for the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative, said the food service industry is complex and involves a hefty amount of paperwork but his organization simplifies the process.

"When staffing is an issue, it means your food service directors or your managers are having to work the line," Smith observed. "They have less time to do the admin tasks so important to food service."

Smith added even if a local farmer then wins the bid but is unable to meet all of a school's needs, gaps can be filled by other producers. He pointed out the approach ensures small, rural businesses can realistically meet expectations without overextending their resources.

A study from the American Society for Nutrition found schools with unhealthy school food environments saw steeper trends in the prevalence of obesity compared with schools with healthier food options.

Smith pointed out schools where there are not enough local farmers face the highest barriers to getting produce into cafeterias. He cited an example of the Lee County schools' food service director's quest for local foods.

"There's no one producing flour or breads or any kind of local produce next to him," Smith noted. "I'm constantly just reaching out to people and seeing what I can do for him."

Smith added interested school districts should reach out to the cooperative to see how they can benefit from reduced barriers around the procurement of local foods.

"I think that's where the KVEC bidding process really works," Smith stressed. "It just makes it easy."

Research from the National Institutes of Health has found schools offering more junk foods are more likely to see increased Body Mass Index among students.


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