Food Insecurity

Baptist Health in Northeast Florida will fund 215,000 meals across its five-county service area as part of its commitment to eradicate food insecurity.

On "Florida Matters: Live & Local," Metropolitan Ministries chief programs officer Christine Long describes an increase in food demand this holiday season and gearing up to help families for Christmas.

On "Florida Matters: Live & Local," we cover families facing food insecurity, endangered manatees, navigating tricky holiday conversations and exploring festive local events.

The Lakeland nonprofit is seeing more walk-ins, more anxiety and higher demand as older adults struggle to afford groceries.

City council committee members voted against providing the One Community Grocery Co-op with a $50,000 capacity-building grant.

The program, "Food for Our Neighbors," collects food and household items for immigrant families struggling in the midst of heightened immigration enforcement.

The state allocated $38 million to the Farmers Feeding Florida program. The new statewide initiative helps food banks distribute surplus and discounted farm products to families in need.

The district's meal sites are available through the Seamless Summer Option (SSO), a program under the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The state gives rural districts, like Hernando County, extra leeway in distributing food.

Thanks to the success of the recent Stamp Out Hunger food drive, the shelves are full. But without enough hands to sort and hand out those donations, much of that food risks going unused.

Congress is close to cutting at least $200 billion from SNAP over 10 years and shifting some of the remaining costs to states. A single mom in Tampa says that would impact her ability to feed her kids.

Cuts to the grocery assistance program could undermine Fresh Access Bucks, which has been successful at addressing nutritional food deserts and supporting local growers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture canceled two food programs earlier this year that would have provided $1 billion in funding. The budget cuts are part of the federal initiative to reduce government spending.