What does hunger really look like in WNC?

I know there are hungry people in our community. I see it in the faces of dozens of people who crowd into the food pantry where I serve with my church each Thursday.

Their number seems to grow each week (54 families served on Jan. 3, 58 on Jan. 24, 74 last week)… while other numbers often tied to hunger are dropping nationwide:

- Participation in the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides money on EBT cards for families in need to purchase groceries, has declined each year since 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

- Even the number of SNAP participants in the state of North Carolina has been on the decline: 1,038,992 people participating in September 2017, down to 843,088 in September 2018 (USDA).

- And, in the federal WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program, the total participation in North Carolina has dropped from 8.6 million in 2013 to 6.8 million last year (USDA).

But the number of people coming to local food pantries is rising. And many of them are women with children. So what’s really going on here?

I intend to find out.

Over the next several weeks and months, I’ll be working with Carolina Public Press, visiting with families battling hunger and the pantries, relief agencies, schools and volunteers who feed them to find the true picture of hunger in Western North Carolina, what it looks like, what’s being done and what needs to happen next.

First stop, this week: the N.C. Child Hunger Leaders Conference at The Friday Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. I’ll let you know what I learn.