KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City region’s largest food bank released new data Wednesday showing increasing demand from residents trying to fend off food insecurity.
Harvesters - The Community Food Network says the increased demand is coming at the same time as economic uncertainty chips away at contributions and federal government budget reductions cast uncertainty on grants and other funding.
“Our partner agencies have more and more individuals and families seeking food assistance, and we are struggling to keep up,” Harvesters CEO Stephen Davis said Wednesday. “In addition to losing funding for food for some federal nutritional programs, we are receiving fewer donations than normal from both individual and corporate partners in the midst of the current economic climate.”
On Wednesday, the nonprofit organization Feeding America released its 2025 report on food security across the country. The report uses data from 2023, the most recent year for which full data is available.
Using the 2023 data, Harvesters estimates that nearly 375,000 people in its 27-county service area experience food insecurity. That count includes more than 110,000 children.
Harvesters says the numbers are the highest they’ve seen in a decade.
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“The findings of the Map the Meal Gap study are disheartening, but they are not surprising,” Davis said. “We are doing everything we can with the resources we have, but the challenge is great now.”
On Wednesday night, KSHB 41 News reporter Ryan Gamboa visited with farmers and officials in Johnson County, Kansas, who are concerned over a federal budget proposal introduced this week that would reallocate money earmarked for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and instead send it to other farm safety net programs.
You can watch Ryan’s report in the video player below.
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