Four Arkansas organizations receive grant funding to combat food deserts

Kenya Eddings, director of the Arkansas Minority Health Commission, announces four grants to combat food deserts on Aug. 14, 2024. (Livestream screenshot)

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, alongside leadership from the state health department on Wednesday, announced four organizations would receive up to $10,000 each as part of an inaugural “food desert elimination grant.”

All 75 counties in Arkansas have at least one food desert, which means residents have to travel more than one mile to obtain fresh, nutritious food in an urban setting and more than 10 miles in a rural setting. The grants announced Wednesday are a “good first step” to addressing food insecurity in Arkansas, Sanders said.

Grant recipients include Innovative Community Concepts in Pulaski County, McElroy House in Yell County and the city of Pine Bluff and the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture in Jefferson County.

“We know that when neighborhoods lack access to healthy food, people are at higher risk for developing chronic conditions like heart disease, obesity, diabetes or mental health disorders,” said Renee Mallory, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health.

In Pulaski County, leaders with Innovative Community Concepts will implement a series of mobile market pop-up shops to assess the feasibility of a mobile grocery unit. The pop-ups will be hosted in four historically underserved areas of Little Rock, which were identified by a city task force.

Innovative Community Concepts does not have an online presence.

In Yell County, the grant will fund a seed swap program. McElroy House officials will launch a local food calendar to alert the public about locations where fresh produce will be available. In partnership with a local food pantry, organization leaders will also construct raised garden beds and expand their existing models.

Leaders in Jefferson County will conduct a study on the socioeconomic factors influencing food deserts in Pine Bluff and establish community gardens in identified locations.

The health department’s Minority Health Commission developed the grant , and applications were accepted for a period in late 2023 and early 2024.

Commission Director Kenya Eddings and Chair Sederick Rice were present Wednesday to award the grants. Eddings also noted the negative effects of growing up in a food desert and how childhood hunger can adversely affect school test scores and cause behavior problems.

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Access to food

Arkansas ranks among the worst states in the nation for food insecurity with nearly 19% of the state’s population struggling with hunger, according to Feeding America data released in May.

Food insecurity in Arkansas worsens, rate ranks second highest nationwide

Arkansas’ food insecurity rate has been steadily increasing since the pandemic year of 2020, and the 2022 rate, which is second in the nation, was the highest it’s reached in five years, according to Feeding America. Arkansas also ranked second nationwide for the highest food insecurity rate among children, with nearly one in four children lacking access to healthy options.

Sanders on Wednesday said it was “no secret to anyone” that Arkansas was currently struggling with this.

“A visit to any grocery store will tell you why,” Sanders said. “It’s never been more expensive to put food on the dinner table.”

This year, Arkansas was one of about three dozen states to opt in to an inaugural federal food assistance program called the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer, or Summer EBT. The program provided eligible children with pre-loaded cards with $120 for groceries while school wasn’t in session.

Proponents of Summer EBT said it was beneficial to have another program available for struggling families as overlapping services can help alleviate adverse outcomes.

Sanders also highlighted a state law passed in 2023 that expanded free and reduced lunch programs for Arkansas students.

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