In March, the NC Child Hunger Leaders Conference, organized by the Carolina Hunger Initiative (CHI), was held in Asheville for the first time. With support from Dogwood Health Trust, CHI is launching a project to better understand child hunger in the region and develop strategies to reduce it. Food insecurity affects as many as 1 in 4 children in Western North Carolina, and the situation has not been fully reassessed since Hurricane Helene.
NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson delivered the keynote, highlighting how his office and the Department of Health and Human Services worked together to deliver SNAP benefits to families during the federal government shutdown.
SNAP brings about $2.8 billion in federal funds to NC each year. However, the federal budget reconciliation bill (HR1) recently cut SNAP funding by approximately 20%, the largest reduction in the program’s history. The bill also increases the share that states must pay in the future and imposes additional penalties based on states’ SNAP payment error rates. If states and counties cannot absorb these added costs, SNAP benefits could be reduced or potentially eliminated.
"Food insecurity affects as many as 1 in 4 children in Western North Carolina, and the situation has not been fully reassessed since Hurricane Helene."
SNAP is especially vital in rural counties, where it helps sustain local grocery stores and brings essential revenue to farms and businesses. Enrollment in SNAP also determines eligibility for several child nutrition programs. Children in SNAP households are automatically enrolled for free school meals and the summer SUN Bucks program. Lower SNAP enrollment also affects whether schools qualify to serve free breakfast and lunch to all students through the Community Eligibility Provision.
Child hunger is not a new challenge. MANNA FoodBank, Communities in Schools, and Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s Growing Minds program are just a few of the many nonprofits addressing this issue in WNC. A sobering reality remains, however: for every meal provided by charitable organizations, SNAP provides nine. Nonprofit organizations cannot fill this gap.