Struggling to put food on the table

Fifteen percent of Idaho households are considered to be food insecure, and about 6 percent are considered to have very low food security according to the Food Research and Action Center.

“The most vulnerable we see in Idaho are people in rural areas and children,” said Kathy Gardner, director of Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force.

Idaho Falls Community Food Bank has seen an increase in families.

“We feed about 1,000 families a month, which means that’s about 16,000 people we have fed in just June, July and August,” said Buck Horton, chairman of the Idaho Falls Community Food Bank.

Participation in food stamps has gone down for Idaho, but the that comes at a price.

“We have families that are employed but have lost the work support of the food stamps. So they have taken a step backwards and have become food insecure and still do not have the resources to put food on the table,” said Gardner.

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