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Farms to Food Banks Program Could Help Meet Demand from Changes in Food Stamp Rules

Marek Idowski, 123rf Stock Photo

Food banks in Kentucky are preparing for increased demand after new food stamp rules went into effect this week. The changes require able-bodied adults without children to work, volunteer or be in job training 20 hours a week.

Up to 9,000 people in 8 Kentucky counties could be impacted by the changes. Tri-State Food Bank in Evansville, Indiana serves Henderson and Daviess counties in Kentucky. Executive Director Glenn Roberts says Kentucky has a state program that could help meet the increasing demand. It’s called “Farms to Food Banks”, and it pays farmers for produce they can’t sell to grocery stores.

“It’s slightly imperfect, blemished, you know, the funny looking carrots or the cucumbers that have a scratch or a dent in them, but it’s perfectly good nutritious food. So rather than farmers throwing it out or plowing it under, they’ll get compensated for it just slightly below wholesale prices and then that food is distributed to food banks," Roberts says.

The Kentucky counties affected by the food stamp changes are Bullitt, Daviess, Fayette, Hardin, Henderson, Jefferson, McCracken and Warren.

Rhonda Miller began as reporter and host for All Things Considered on WKU Public Radio in 2015. She has worked as Gulf Coast reporter for Mississippi Public Broadcasting, where she won Associated Press, Edward R. Murrow and Green Eyeshade awards for stories on dead sea turtles, health and legal issues arising from the 2010 BP oil spill and homeless veterans.
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