Clinton, Missouri — To grasp how big a problem hunger is in rural America, spend time at a mobile food bank in Clinton, Missouri.
On this particular October morning, 74-year-old Lorna Hall is first in line in her car at the food bank. She tells CBS News she has been here since last night.
“I don’t keep the car running, I can’t afford the gas, so I have sleeping bags to stay warm,” Hall said.
Others waiting in line share a similar raw reality.
“I still feel bad that I have to come up here and sit on a line, you know, to get food. It’s embarrassing as hell,” said Leo Barnett, who along with his wife Donita are among about 175 households who are receiving help on this day from the food bank.
“Thank God we’ve got it,” Barnett said. “Or we are probably lying underneath a tree somewhere.”
Pastor Marty Resz oversees the distribution. “We’re in serious times,” Resz said. “I mean, people are struggling, cost of living is going up. Everything went higher.”
Resz says the number of people coming in for help has about doubled.
“We used to see maybe 50 to 60 cars,” Resz said. “It’s doubled, and it’s probably going to get worse.”
The Mobile Food Bank is part of Harvesters, a nonprofit food network that says it feeds nearly 375,000 people daily in Kansas and Missouri.
But rising inflation along with cuts to government programs — including more than $1 billion in federal food aid to food banks and schools — have translated into fewer donations than previous years.
One in seven people in 27 counties across Kansas and Missouri are food insecure, according to Harvesters.
Elizabeth Keever, chief resource officer for Harvesters, says the need is the highest it has been in a decade. And Harvesters expects more people to ask for help as the government shutdown continues and SNAP payments are withheld.
“We have a rising number of people facing food insecurity and less resources to tackle it,” Keever said. “…Folks that are utilizing food pantries, they’re going to see less, unfortunately.” Another challenge is the recent Trump administration order canceling the annual U.S. Department of Agriculture report on food insecurity, claiming it has become politized.
“Without that vital data, we’d be operating in the dark,” Keever said.
Meanwhile, those here in Clinton want to deliver a message to politicians bickering a thousand miles away.
“Let’s quit fighting,” Barnett said. “Democrats and Republicans, come on. There’s people out here starving to death.”
Said Hall, “If Congress had to live on the budgets that we live on, they wouldn’t survive.”
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