Rising Food Insecurity in Oklahoma

Chase Parsons is the Director of the non-profit OKC Dream Center, which is an organization he founded in 2012 to distribute food to those in need. On this toasty Saturday morning in Oklahoma City, there were plenty of people thankful to accept his help. 

“When we first came on this, this campus here, there was a small church food pantry going on, and then the organization jumped in and within two years kind of basically consumed that under its umbrella, and we've been doing it ever since,” says Parsons.

OKC Dream Center began drive-thru food distributions during covid. Parsons says that's helped them meet an increased demand. 

"It's actually grown from, we would do plan to serve up to a hundred, and then now, like today, every month for the last like year and a half, we prep to serve up to 200 families every single month,” says Parsons.

The pandemic is over, but the demand for food remains. 

"The last year has seen nothing but an increase. We've seen some regulars, a lot of families that are on fixed incomes. It's really hard right now. And then, others that, that are, that just really haven't made a successful step back into a seemingly normal way of life after COVID,” says Parsons.

The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma says that each year they distribute 50 million pounds of food to regional organizations like the OKC Dream Center.

"We partner with about 1300 community-based partners throughout our 53-county service area. So, we cover all of central and western Oklahoma. That's 53 of the 77 counties in Oklahoma,” says Director of Communications Kathy Nestlen, Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.

Nestlen says before the pandemic, the need for food assistance was on the decline.

“Unfortunately, any gains we had made were completely wiped out with the pandemic. We immediately saw upwards of a 30% to 50% need increase in the need for people needing food assistance,” says Nestlen.

Despite a 2.7% unemployment number in Oklahoma, Nestlen says many can't keep up with rising inflation costs. 

“Inflation increases but their wages do not. And so, we tend to describe the people that we serve as chronically hungry children, seniors who live on fixed incomes, and then just those hardworking families that may struggle to make ends meet,” says Nestlen.

Nestlen says food insecurity rose once additional but temporary, pandemic aid was discontinued. 

“The reduction in SNAP Benefits due to the closing of the pandemic benefits, yes, we definitely saw an impact and people needing more food assistance following when those benefits ended,” says Nestlen.

According to US News and World Report, Oklahoma ranked fourth in the nation in SNAP Benefits participation in 2022. 

The rise in food insecurity is reflected in the eastern half of the state as well. Where residents are finding their dollar isn't going as far as it used to in the grocery store.

“When you're seeing food prices going up, they're not able to buy as much food as they used to be with their grocery budget. Then when you saw the SNAP Benefits get cut, you know, which is about $230 per a family with kids, that's a huge hit,” says Nestlen.

Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma Chief Development Officer, Matt Jostes says Oklahoma is a "top ten" state when it comes to food insecurity.

“We're number five in the nation for most food insecure people. Right here in eastern Oklahoma, we're one of the most food-insecure places in the nation for children. One in five children go to bed, not knowing where their next meal is gonna come from,” says Jostes.

"Here in Oklahoma, we're about 60% of families living paycheck to paycheck. So, they're, you know, one unexpected bill away from losing their grocery money. And then, that's where the pantries and our partner agencies come in to help,” says Jostes, “it's a problem that's just getting worse, but it's definitely a solvable problem that we have."

Nestlen says that a reauthorized Farm Bill from the U.S. Congress could help fund essential food programs. 

“That may seem funny but how does it affect food insecurity? But within the Farm Bill is all the federal nutrition programs. And so, we need to make sure that our elected officials are paying attention and making sure that those programs receive all the funding that's possible so that we can continue to help our neighbors in need,” says Nestlen.

The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma says it's prepared to help once children return to the classroom in August. 

“We have several school-based programs that we do. We have the backpack program, which is for elementary-aged children, and they get on Fridays and before holidays they get a sack of child-friendly food that they can take home over the weekends or over the school break so that when they return to school they're ready to learn,” says Nestlen.

Providing those extra meals away from school is crucial. 

“Now as we go back to school, you know, those free and reduced lunches are back there for those children. But it's really those breaks. The weekends where we have programs for there, we have our Backpack for Kids program, which allows students to, you know, come by, grab a bag to take home with them. We have school pantries that we support,” says Jostes.

The Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma distributes food and health items to 700 partners across the region. Jostes says they are building more space to meet the higher demand for food assistance. 

“We are right in the middle of a construction project, which should be finishing up here in the next couple of months. We have doubled the size of our distribution that, so we will be able to go from about 30 million meals a year to 60 million a year that go, go out through these doors,” says Jostes.

OKC Dream Center Volunteer Whitney Kluge helps run the drive-thru food distributions. She says the resources provided to them by food banks are essential. 

"When resources are coming in, they're actually going back out to the people that need it. They're in safe hands and enhance it, are stewarding them well,” says Kluge.

OKC Dream Center has grown to the point where it seeks to help other non-profits and organizations when they can. 

“It's kind of become its own monster for us. So much so that we are now contacting other organizations and sharing the abundance of the donations that we get and trying to find organizations that are meeting specific needs that, that we can hook up with certain pieces of our donations and serve the greater Oklahoma City,” says Parsons.

Parsons says the public can also help by financial partnerships, volunteering time, and donating food. 

“Start being a part of the change that you want to see that would make this city and beyond this our world practically a better place,” says Parsons.