Officials said this data reflects the conditions before the recently approved federal reduction to the SNAP program.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A new study revealed how many people across Dare to Care’s service area in Kentucky and southern Indiana are food insecure.
Feeding America’s “Map the Meal Gap” study found 203,770 people are food insecure, and that’s the highest number ever recorded in the organization’s history.
The data marks a significant increase from last year’s number of 186,350 food insecure individuals, and a 62% increase since 2021, officials said.
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“This is no longer a temporary challenge, but this reflects a changing food landscape that food banks and pantries alone cannot solve,” Vincent James, the president and CEO of Dare to Care Food Bank, said. “The data confirms what we’re seeing every day—more families are struggling to put food on the table. Without significant investment in federal nutrition programs, we can expect even more families to face impossible choices between food, housing, health care and other basic needs.”
Officials said this data reflects the conditions before the recently approved federal reduction to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“The numbers we’re sharing today don’t yet capture the impact of recent and upcoming SNAP changes,” James said. “As eligibility becomes more restrictive, we expect even more families to seek help from food pantries. While these challenges are significant, they also remind us that ending hunger requires all of us including government, businesses, nonprofits and community working together to strengthen the systems that help families thrive.”
He said this is also having a ripple effect in the amount of service they can provide.
“We’re currently down 2 million pounds in terms of food than what we’ve seen from the previous year,” James said. “That impacts us in such a significant way. That means that it’s 2 million pounds of less food that’s going out to an already ever increasing food insecurity number.”
USDA data shows nearly 1 in 5 Kentuckians were struggling to get enough food in 2024.
Dare to Care said a $1 donation can provide two meals.
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