![]() “Distributing this food through our network of partner agencies provided more than 36.5 million meals to hungry children, families and seniors throughout our 46-county service area,” McDaniel said. In 2020, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee distributed more than 41 million pounds of food to more than 450 partner agencies in Middle and West Tennessee, said Chanel McDaniel, director of marketing and communications at Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee is one of the largest and most comprehensive of more than 200 food banks and food distribution centers nationwide. ![]() The food is then distributed to the food bank’s partner agencies, including afterschool programs, soup kitchens, senior centers and nonprofits that provide food for hungry people in their communities. Food banks also raise funds to buy food at bulk prices and fund feeding programs. Banks receive donated and surplus food from a variety of sources - from grocery stores to farms to manufacturers to individuals - and when all of that food is brought to the warehouses, it is inspected and sorted by volunteers and stored. The food bank facilities are used to source, acquire, sort and distribute food. Volunteers have been wearing masks and gloves and social distancing while distributing food. Donations from food drives are collected, sorted and packaged at warehouses to then be distributed to the homes of neighbors. A volunteer scoops bulk macaroni noodles to be distributed to partner agencies. Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee employee Joe moves food through the warehouse to fulfill agency orders. “We are all members of Feeding America and have all stayed very well-connected as we navigated the waters of a global pandemic and beyond,” Harmon said. There are five food banks in Tennessee that cover all 95 counties in the state: Chattanooga Area Food Bank, Mid-South Food Bank, Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee and Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee. “While the numbers are hard to grasp as we are still in the midst of the pandemic and will continue to see the effects of it, more than 905,000 people in the state of Tennessee are food insecure,” Harmon said. Harmon said as more data comes in, the numbers will change. The South is among the highest populations of food insecurity, and Tennessee is relatively high in the rankings with 13.3 percent of Tennesseans at risk of hunger. Visit to learn ways Tennessee’s electric cooperatives are combating hunger and how Meals on Wheels provides phyical and emotional nourishment. “Folks who have never had to think about utilizing a food bank are having to seek out their resources.” There’s more online “The pandemic certainly exacerbated the food insecurity rates in our country,” said Madison Harmon, communications and digital media coordinator at Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee. Metro Nashville Public Schools security officers load their vehicle with food to deliver to families without transportation. The study also says it will likely take time to rebound from the pandemic, listing that it took nearly 10 years for food insecurity numbers to recover from the Great Recession in 2008. This number stems from Feeding America’s study on COVID-19’s impact on food insecurity. did not know how they would get their next meal or from where.ĭue to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Feeding America estimates that in 2021, more than 42 million Americans are at risk of food insecurity and are struggling with hunger. This means that 35 million people in the U.S. population, according to Feeding America’s map on food insecurity. There were 35 million food-insecure people in the U.S. These Tennessee food banks provide meals and more to their communities
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