Harvesters KC Food Bank Opens Warehouse in Kansas Breadbasket

Time and time again supporters of food assistance programs emphasize the contradiction between growing hunger in the US and vast financial wealth and food resources. Civic, government, and business leaders made comments about this disparity at the official opening of a large Harvesters food bank warehouse today in Topeka serving sixteen counties in eastern Kansas. “Here, in the breadbasket of the most affluent country in the world, we have a substantial number of people who are food insecure,” Kansas First Lady Stacy Parkinson said. “That is just unacceptable.”

Civic leaders cut ribbon recognizing the official opening
of Harvesters' second food warehouse in Topeka.
Douglas Kinsinger with the Topeka Chamber of Commerce asked "What else can we do" to solve this problem but to support food banks and feeding programs.

There's no shortage of ideas and action at a local level.

One common approach to hunger relief is providing resources for neighbors in need. Before the official opening of a new food warehouse in Topeka, Peggy with Inward Faith food pantry emphasized the growing need. The pantry serves around 150 people during their food distributions. She recalled how shoplifting for food has dropped, according to a cop-friend of hers, because of the better coverage of food pantries to serve people. She remembered a young mother who was caught stealing food a while back, but was let go after she intervened in the case. Peggy provided a $50 cash donation to the woman's family, who she found living in a home with boarded up windows.

Seibert, a small town on Colorado's Eastern Plains, struggled
to save its grocery store. (photo: agjournal.com)
Brian Walker, president of the Kansas Food Bank in Wichita, found how listening to rural people in western Kansas developed solid relationships. Townspeople in a western Kansas were concerned about the food bank distributing purchased or donated food from outside the area, taking away revenue away from struggling grocery stores. Taking this into consideration the food bank purchased food from the local grocery store benefiting the economy and feeding people in need. He added how the town purchased the struggling grocery store, making it into a co-operative. A sign that people have taken control of the economic condition to sustain their community. Nearby Siebert, Colorado and Walsh in southeastern Colorado have taken similar steps to form grocery store co-operatives.

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