THOMASVILLE — Rotary Club of Thomasville members found out just how much of an issue food insecurity — and the impact of hypertension — is in the community.

Taking root from a brainstorming session earlier this summer, Rotary Club leaders brought together a panel to look at one of the community’s biggest needs. 

Food insecurity, and a lack of access to food, are concerns, panelists said.

“We see it every day.” said Angela Kiminas, executive director of Hands On Thomas County. “According to Second Harvest of South Georgia, one or four kids suffers from food insecurity and one in five adults. And that’s just in southwest Georgia.” 

As Kiminas pointed out, it’s not just access to food but also the right kind of food.

“You have people who do not have enough to eat every day,” she said. “They don’t have the access. They don’t have the money to purchase. On the other side, they are choosing the wrong foods.”

Thomasville City Schools director of school nutrition Jeana Smith said 40% of the system’s students live in households that receive food stamps with food insecurity.

When the schools closed for COVID-19 last year, students who relied on school lunches and breakfasts were left in the lurch. The school system provided 1,800 lunches and 1,200 breakfasts a day.

“Their parents had not planned to feed them at home and did not have a plan to feed them at home,” Smith said. 

It was then the school system started distributing meals and in a space of a few months, gave out 300,000 meals.

“That’s where we could see the need,” Smith said.

Lt. Juan Reyes of the Salvation Army said his organization has seen the need too.

“COVID hit and I had a whole new demographic of people coming to my door,” he said. “They didn’t know what to do.” 

Food insecurity also goes without being noticed by others, Kiminas pointed out.

“We see it in our organization because we work with all the non-profits,” she said. “We also act as a clearinghouse and a referral center. We get calls every day from people looking to get their next meal or where they can get food for their family.”

Transportation also is an issue for many low-income families, Smith added. Many do not live within one mile of a grocery store and their shopping options often carry calorie-dense and sodium-dense food, rather than nutrient-dense food.

The Salvation Army recently received a commercial kitchen and is planning a food ministry to reach into neighborhoods. 

“It’s a holistic approach,” he said. “We can start retraining people, teaching people.”

Eating habits also have changed, Smith said. 

“A lot of people tend to eat out,” she said. “Fast food meals are very high in sodium.”

A typical fast food meal, Smith noted, can contain 1,800-2,500 milligrams of sodium, which is what some people need in an entire day. Those meals also are loaded in carbohydrates.

Sharon Edwards, executive director of Community Outreach Training Center, said she learned at a workshop where a mini-vegetable store goes into areas that are more than a mile away from a grocery store, enabling residents to buy fresh food.

She also said there are many parents with several children who have to figure out how much food they can buy with what they have. 

“We see it a lot,” she said. “You want to eat healthy but I need to stretch these dollars.”

Panelist Scott Chastain said there are some opportunities to connect kids and adults to farms with food. 

“One of the best examples I came across is Flint River Fresh in Albany. It has taken a long time to build it,” he said. “They connect small farmers to low income communities, build connections, whether it’s transportation, whether it’s delivering food, bringing kids out to farm to teach them how to grow it.”

Chastain also pointed to an initiative in North Georgia that buys produce in bulk and packs it to distribute to churches and different neighborhoods. That effort, Gathered Goods, is interested in expanding into South Georgia, he said.

Still, habits have to change too, panelists pointed out. Marvin Dawson recounted the story of running into a young man he knew at a local store. The young man, who already had a weight problem, had in his hands two bags of chips and two 64-ounce fruit punch drinks. 

“He was already very obese. I shared with him, ‘you have to make better choices now or you’re going to pay for it later,’” Dawson said.

Kiminas expressed a confidence that the community can tackle the problem of food insecurity.

“Thomas County and Thomasville is a very successful community on many levels,” she said. “But we still suffer from these same problems. It’s going to take all of us to get together and get out and make these things happen. We can do it because Thomasville doesn’t fail.” 

On Wednesday: The fight against hypertension