The battle against food insecurity in Kent

Lydia Taylor

Bill Bowen starts his day by preparing for meals, where him and his coworkers will serve lunch at 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the afternoon, Monday through Friday.

Bowen is the food coordinator for Kent Social Services, the only hot meal location in Kent. On average, the staff sees 45 to 60 people of all ages, but mainly those who are 50 and older.

“I mean there’s a lot of food insecurity out there because people say ‘the economy is doing great,’ and its like the economy is doing great if you earn $150,000 a year or more, but there’s a whole lot of people who earn less than $30,000 that the economy is not doing great for,” Bowen said

According to Feeding America Network, the largest hunger-relief organization in the U.S., the rate of food insecurity in Portage County is 13.9 percent. That’s just a little over 22,000 people.

Bowen says battling food insecurity is a community effort; many times, places like Bob Evans or Panera will donate bread that wasn’t used that day. Other times, organic farmers around the area will donate fresh produce.

Aside from donations which is where most of the food comes from, they will go to local food banks where they can get food for cheap.

Bowen believes food insecurity is an issue that hasn’t been addressed very much in the community, and it’s going to get worse.

“The other problem with that is that it’s not enough to live on, but it’s enough to get you kicked off of programs,” meaning programs like food stamps and welfare.

Bowen tries to give everyone a full-course meal so that they are full for the rest of the day.

“At first I figure everybody eats like I do, and I also figure this might be your only meal of the day, I figure 18,000 to 20,000 calories for a a meal,” Bowen said.

According to Kent Social Services’ website, 94 cents of every dollar is donated directly toward getting food, 100,000 people are served from their programs and over 3,000 volunteer each year.

Bowen said even though the rate of food insecurity is slightly down from the previous year, there is still a lot of work left to be done.

Over 22,000 residents in Portage County are food insecure, which is 13.9 percent of the county, according to Feeding America Network. The only hot meal location in Kent is Kent Social Services. Keep an eye out for my latest story! #JMCRPP

— Lydia Taylor (@LydiaTaylrr) May 9, 2018