CANTON ‒ People who need food may find it difficult to locate a comprehensive list of local food pantries.
If they get food, some may lack the knowledge, appliances and utensils to properly prepare and cook healthy food at an affordable cost.
“Sometimes, people don’t know the bag of beans, you have to soak them,” said Kaitlynne Henninge of OSU Extension, who educates people about the federal Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. “Not everyone has a refrigerator. Not everyone has a stove.”
Henninge delivered an impromptu presentation Wednesday at the first full in-person meeting of the Stark County Food Council since January 2020. With the council’s agenda disrupted by the pandemic for years, the meeting took place in the basement of the Stark Library’s North Branch on 25th Street NW.
Council Chair Jennifer Vokoun, the director of Walsh University’s Center for Sustainable Food Design, said local organizers began discussing in 2017 establishing the council based on other communities’ food councils. She said the more than dozen participants break up into smaller groups to discuss for about 20 minutes the area’s assets and challenges in growing and producing food, distributing food and educating people about preparing and eating healthy food.
“How might we support the great work that’s already happening in our community by connecting people and connecting our resources so people can have access to what they need?” Vokoun asked. “Rising cost is a huge issue right now.”
Vokoun said the goal of the council is to bring together different people who manage improving access to food for lower-income people and to coordinate solutions to overcome the barriers impeding them from getting healthy food.
Strengths and challenges of Stark County food scene
Casey Ellington, a Nimishillen Township farmer, said the area has experienced a growing popularity in community gardens and seed giveaway programs, local meat processors are seeking to hire more people and the area benefits from the proximity of many farms.
But the county’s cities have “food deserts” where residents don’t have access to healthy produce, Ellington said. Wildlife eats much of farmer’s local crops. Disease has afflicted livestock. An increase in federal funding for the supplemental nutrition assistance program also known as food stamps has expired. Many residents don’t have easily accessible transportation to get to the grocery store or a food pantry.
Daniel Van Epps, the executive director of the nonprofit Northeast Ohio Regional Improvement Corp., acknowledged that the area has a network of food banks and pantries, as well as local farmers and restaurants, that get their food from local sources. He spoke on behalf of the “move” group that discussed the area’s assets and challenges in distributing food.
Van Epps said the local health care industry has focused on providing programs that encourage wellness and nutrition.
But Van Epps said while public transportation through the Stark Area Regional Transit Authority is available. It’s not ideal for a shopping trip to the grocery store.
“If you’re riding a bus to a market, that bus carries passengers, not necessarily armsful of groceries. It’s hard. But we can’t blame like SARTA for that. They just need to redesign buses to help accommodate users who need to haul that much food,” he said. “We need to think about those who can’t afford cars and pickup trucks.”
Van Epps added that the consolidation of wholesalers and grocery store chains is leading to less competition and higher prices and “we’ve got a lot less farms that we used to have.”
Vokoun asked participants to fill out a survey. She hopes to hold the next meeting of the Stark County Food Council in December.
Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. X formerly Twitter: @rwangREP.
