Study: Ohio ranks 18th for food hardship

Ohio ranks 18th-worst in a nationwide evaluation of people who are struggling to afford enough food for themselves and their family, according to a new report.

The report by the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit organization that focuses on ending poverty-related hunger, found that Ohio’s food hardship rate is 16.2 percent. That means 16.2 percent of Ohioans struggle to put food on the table.

Food hardship is comparable to food insecurity in that it indicates someone not having enough money to buy needed food.

The Bakersfield, California, metropolitan statistical area had the worst food hardship rate in the country, at 23.2 percent. The Youngstown, Warren and Boardman area in northeast Ohio had the second-worst at 22 percent, according to the report.

Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director for the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, said the report helps identify gaps in services and determine a course of action.

To help Ohio’s numbers, social-service groups and government agencies could strengthen nutrition programs, residents could ask elected leaders for more state and federal assistance and companies could provide more jobs with better pay and benefits, she said.

“Fill in the blank, we need everything,” Hamler-Fugitt said.

Locally, the Mid-Ohio Foodbank is working to provide meals to address some of those disparities.

The food bank assists 500,000 people across a 20-county service area in Ohio, providing enough food for 155,000 meals every day through a network of 650 partner agencies such as pantries, soup kitchens and produce markets, spokeswoman Jill Jess said.

About 300,000 of the people helped are in Franklin County, Jess said.

But hunger isn’t limited to one area and might not be visible.

“It exists in the suburbs, it exists in the city, it exists in the rural areas,” she said.

One reason that the Youngstown-WarrenBoardman area struggles is because it is “hollowed out,” with its onceprominent manufacturing industry decreased substantially, HamlerFugitt said.

“The jobs that are there, unfortunately, are lowwage, part-time, temporary contingent, non-family supporting jobs,” she said. “The area is just in deep, grinding and abject poverty.”

She said the report further highlights that households with children are more likely to struggle with food hardship.

“It costs more money to raise a kid,” Hamler-Fugitt said. “In the greatest nation on earth, it is unconscionable that we continue to see elevated rates of hunger, food insecurity and food hardship.”