RALEIGH, N.C. -- Más de $1 millón en subvenciones para la COVID-19 están ayudando a organizaciones rurales a aumentar su enfoque en la ayuda alimentaria de origen local.

Merry Davis es directora de alimentos saludables de la Fundación Blue Cross and Blue Shield de Carolina del Norte, cuyos más de $1 millón en subvenciones para la COVID-19 en conjunto con The Conservation Fund se enfocaron en condados no urbanos. Ella dice que las regiones rurales continúan enfrentando grandes desafíos.

"Muchas de estas comunidades rurales son áreas agrícolas de alto rendimiento y muchas de estas organizaciones se están asociando con granjas pequeñas y medianas para proporcionar alimentos locales, por lo que no solo proporcionan alimentos a las personas, sino que también apoyan a los agricultores locales", comentó también Davis.

La necesidad de alimentos ha aumentado en Carolina del Norte a medida que avanza la pandemia, y casi el 20% de todos los residentes enfrentan inseguridad alimentaria, según el grupo Alimentando América.

Deborah Freeman de Good Shepherd Food Pantry en el condado de Bertie dice que el dinero extra ayudará a su organización a apoyar a los agricultores locales, traer más productos a las familias del condado de Bertie y proporcionar refrigeración comercial para extender la vida útil necesaria y así distribuir productos frescos.

"Pudimos conseguir un congelador comercial, un refrigerador comercial. Pudimos ubicar a los agricultores locales en el área, comprarles su comida, esa comida fue al mercado de agricultores", agregó además Freeman.

El director de TRACTOR Food and Farms en el condado de Yancey, Dru Zucchino, dice que el apoyo ha ayudado a su grupo a expandir los servicios en el oeste de Carolina del Norte, aumentando el acceso a alimentos cultivados en la comunidad a más de 11,000 personas con inseguridad alimentaria.

"Pudimos llegar a todos los que lo necesitaban, por lo que si nos quedábamos sin comida en un lugar, luego podíamos seguir sirviendo a esa circunscripción, o a esa población. Era muy importante tener esa flexibilidad durante una pandemia", añadió también el señor Zucchino.

Los datos federales publicados a principios de este mes muestran que en todo el país, la inseguridad alimentaria se disparó entre los hogares con niños, los hogares negros y los hogares del sur. La brecha de inseguridad alimentaria entre los hogares negros y blancos se amplió, con un 21.7% de los hogares negros sin saber de dónde vendría su próxima comida, en comparación con un 7.1% de los hogares blancos.

Alabama is one of 14 states opting out of the 2024 summer electronic benefit program.

As summer rolls around, there will be no programs in place to help low-income families with grocery costs.

LaTrell Clifford Wood, hunger policy advocate for the group Alabama Arise, said as a result, more than 500,000 children who usually receive free or reduced lunch could go without meals. She noted while summer feeding programs will be available, they will not reach everyone in need.

"Ninety-four percent of Alabama children who rely on free and reduced-price meals won't have access to them over the summer," Clifford Wood reported. "That means that only 6% of the children who rely on those meals during the school year are going to be fed through summer feeding programs."

Clifford Wood warned limited hours, transportation and strict program rules will hinder many families from benefiting from such vital programs. The Alabama Legislature did not allocate the necessary $15 million for the program by the end of the last session. However, Clifford Wood noted there is a chance the program will be funded in the summer of 2025.

As legislators focus on next year's budgets, Clifford Wood stressed the need for funding next summer's EBT program. She pointed out Alabama Arise is calling for lawmakers to allocate funds from the Education Trust Fund to combat child hunger, affecting one in four children in the state.

"This is a program that's been tested for 13 years," Clifford Wood emphasized. "It's had three rigorous evaluation periods, and it was shown to improve the diet of children and decrease children's food hardship by a third."

Clifford Wood believes prioritizing children's needs and addressing food insecurity is a form of preventive care and serves as an early investment in the state's overall wellness.

The Food Research and Action Center said funding the e-benefits program would also benefit the economy - adding anywhere from $98 million to $117 million. The Alabama Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee is expected to vote on the budget next week.

California's program helping low-income families buy fresh fruit and vegetables is on the chopping block and health care advocates are asking legislators to save the Market Match program.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed cutting most of the program's $35 million budget to help close the state's budget shortfall.

Sophia Vaccaro, a participant in Market Match from Echo Park, said she depends on Market Match in more ways than one.

"It helps people being able to stretch their budget further," Vaccaro explained. "Then, I think it helps the community, in that it creates a sense of camaraderie at the farmers' market and makes people more invested in the community itself."

The program matches every dollar CalFresh customers spend on fresh fruits and vegetables at a farmer's market up to between $10 and $20 per day. It is active at 294 sites across the state and is partially paid for through federal matching funds.

Dr. John Maa, surgeon at Marin Health Medical Center and board member of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the American Heart Association, said Market Match promotes healthy eating and boosts the local farm economy.

"An improved diet really will have long-term meaningful impacts on health, and also reduce health care costs," Maa explained. "It really helps to sustain the growers and the merchants. I guess it's a win-win-win."

Siu Han Cheung, outreach coordinator for the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation and board member of the Heart of the City Farmers' Market, argued the program is vital to residents across the state.

"If the Market Match will be cut, that is terrible," Cheung stressed. "That means they have less money to buy their food. So, Market Match is very important for the low-income families and the seniors."

Legislators and the governor are working toward the May budget revisions, and must pass a balanced budget by June 15.

South Dakotans face high prices at the grocery store and some are working to ease the burden.

A new report from the Federal Trade Commission finds some grocery retailers used the supply-chain disruptions of the pandemic to raise prices and collect bigger profits, even after supply chains regulated.

One South Dakota group is trying to reduce sticker shock by targeting the state sales tax on groceries. Dakotans for Health is sponsoring a citizens ballot initiative to repeal the 4.2 % tax.

Rick Weiland, co-founder of the group, said lower food bills would make a meaningful difference for some.

"People of modest means, or low income hardworking families, disproportionately spend upwards of 30% on food," Weiland pointed out. "This is going to be helpful."

South Dakota is one of only two states in the country to apply its full state sales tax rate to groceries with no exemptions, Mississippi being the other. More than 9% of South Dakotans are considered food insecure, meaning they do not always have access to enough healthy food.

The grocery tax has been a popular topic among state legislators in recent years. Republican Gov. Kristi Noem even campaigned on the promise to repeal it. Critics have said proposing a tax cut without a way to finance it is irresponsible.

Weiland pointed out Gov. Noem had a formula spelled out when she brought forward her bill in 2023, which was voted down.

"She had no problem defending her position in front of the Legislature, in terms of how much revenue the state was going to lose and where they could make it up," Weiland recounted.

The initiative needs about 17,500 signatures by next month to appear on the November ballot.