Mayor Hogsett launches food insecurity initiative for Marion County
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Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announced a new initiative Tuesday to tackle food insecurity at a news conference at Lugar Plaza.
The city received a more than $600,000 grant from the Partnership for a Healthier America, a national organization dedicated to making affordable and healthy food accessible, to expand the city’s Good Food for All program that started last summer.
The program — led by the city’s year-old Division of Community Nutrition and Food Policy, housed in the Office of Public Health and Safety — helps low-income individuals in Indianapolis and Marion County. Indianapolis was one of more than 20 cities to pilot the program last year.
“Food access cannot be a luxury in our city,” Hogsett said. “Rather, it must be the fundamental expectation of every resident of the city of Indianapolis."
In 2021, in all 9.8% of Indiana households were food insecure, as reported by a 2021 survey conducted by the Indy Hunger Network. That number is twice as high among African American households in Indiana, and nearly half of Hoosiers in need are households with children.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated food insecurity in Marion County. In 2021, around 25% — or 242,000 people — of Marion County residents needed food assistance, a 3% decrease from the peak in June 2020 and a 5% increase above the pre-pandemic level, according to the Indy Hunger Network survey.
Paula Reichel, a representative of the Partnership for a Healthier America, highlighted the increasing need at the news conference.
“Now, with rising inflation, it is even harder for families in Indianapolis to put good, nourishing food on the table,” Reichel said.
The pilot program served more than 1,000 low-income families last year.
In September, the program will continue by helping 1,000 families, providing them with five weeks of free produce boxes and then 12 weeks of produce discounts.
Contact IndyStar reporter Lizzie Kane at ekane@gannett.come. Follow her on Twitter: @lizzie_kane17.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis mayor announces new food insecurity initiative
