KISSIMEE, Fla. – Dozens of volunteers spent their Friday morning feeding fellow Central Floridians as food insecurity and inflation impact our communities.
CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, Derrick Chubbs said the organization is still feeding people at pandemic levels. The food bank relies on federal programs through the U.S. Farm Bill to keep up with that demand, he added.
“Without the Farm Bill, we would see an immediate hit in the amount of food that we’re able to distribute in the 30 percentile range,” Chubbs said. “That’s a conservative number, by the way.”
The U.S. Farm Bill goes up for vote every 5 years.
In August, we told you the bill was set to expire on Sept. 30, but Congress approved a one-year extension.
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
Through the Farm Bill, the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida can obtain food through the Emergency Food Assistance Program which helps it feed thousands.
Rep. Darren Soto, D-Florida, was also at Friday’s food giveaway but not just to help pack up cars, he was also there to express the importance of the U.S. Farm Bill.
Find every episode of Florida Foodie on YouTube:
“Since Florida is now a popular place to live and that really shows itself through the housing around here, which is increased in value and become more difficult for a lot of long-time residents,” Soto said. “That’s why we need to pass the Farm Bill to help lower food costs and to make sure programs like the TEFAP program that Second Harvest is using here today is going to be available for Central Floridians for the foreseeable future.”
Chubbs said without the Farm Bill and programs like TEFAP the amount of available food would drop dramatically.
“We do not have the financial resources to bridge that gap over an extended period of time,” Chubbs said. “We can do it for a minute or two, but that is not a sustainable model for us.”
Jennyffer Santoya was at Friday’s food giveaway and said every little bit helps her family.
“Either you eat or you pay bills pretty much or you feed your children so that’s why we come here we need to put food on our tables and we need to be able to provide for our families,” Santoya said.
With the extension, programs through the Farm Bill can continue until Sept. 30, 2024.
Check out the Florida Foodie podcast. You can find every episode in the media player below: