Media Coverage

An increasing number of Ohioans are struggling to pay for food amid inflation and the end of some pandemic-era benefits.

As Ohio food banks see record-breaking amounts of need, the state is also at risk of losing federal funding that could help residents get essential needs and boosts in employment.

After the most recent state budget passed with a plan to redesign the education and training piece of the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), food and employment advocates across the state watched as the program became a “compliance machine,” rather than a way to bring Ohioans out of poverty.

Hunger and food hardships skyrocketed in 2022 - and in 2023 has been far worse.

Our statewide hunger relief network – made up of 12 regional foodbanks providing help with food and other services in partnership with 3,300 local hunger relief organizations and programs in all 88 counties in Ohio – provided take-home groceries at our pantries and mobile food distributions 3.8 million times from April to June of this year.

Money from a settlement between Dollar General and the Ohio attorney general will go to foodbanks throughout the state.

The state sued Dollar General in November 2022 after county auditors found the company overcharged customers at stores throughout Ohio. Attorney General Dave Yost announced Thursday that as part of the settlement, Dollar General agreed to pay the state $750,000 so the state could give the money to food banks. The money will be used to purchase food and personal care items.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children is facing a funding shortfall in Ohio and nationwide, even without the threat of a government shutdown.
Advocates said nationally, increased participation in WIC along with food price inflation have eaten away at the allotted budget. U.S. Department of Agriculture data from August show WIC enrollments in Ohio were up 12% over last year. While inflation has slowed, food prices are still up nearly 4% over 2022.
Joree Novotny, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, said simply continuing to fund the program at current levels is inadequate.

The still-looming threat of a federal government shutdown and chaos in Congress have pushed Farm Bill negotiations to the side. Ohio food banks said the uncertainty around federal funding for food banks and nutrition programs is compounding the struggles to meet demand. The deadline to reauthorize the nation's largest food and agriculture legislative package was last month.