Midland families are experiencing an increase in food insecurity this summer, but many organizations are working to help those in need.
Katie Wisneski, a regional outreach manager at Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, said one of the financial stressors is higher prices at stores and restaurants.
“You’re having to pay higher cost for everything, for living, for medication, anything of that sort that you have less money to spend on food, and that food is at a higher price too, which just makes everything a lot harder for people,” Wisneski said.
According to Feeding American most recent data, the food insecurity rate in Midland County is 13.7% - that's about 12,540 people. Meanwhile, in Michigan one in nine people face hunger, according to data from 211.
From June 2023 to June 2024, the Food Bank has distributed through partner agencies over 2 million pounds of food, Wisneski said, which equals to 1,671,862 meals.
Midland’s Open Door Executive Director Saralyn Temple said its soup kitchen and shelters serve 50 people per day, which is 3-person increase from 2023.
“I think that one of the things we do really well in Midland County is provide ways out of food insecurity, whether it's places like the Open Door with the soup kitchen or ... the emergency food pantry network,” Temple said. “Midland is very good at taking care of their own and really being a generous community.”
Another hunger relief organization in the Great Lakes Bay Region is Hidden Harvest.
President and CEO Samantha McKenzie said the organization picks up donations from 300 different food places and distributes through 197 food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens.
“Food insecurity, I would say in our community, it’s not just so much about the quantity of food ... it’s about quality,” McKenzie said. “If you’re shopping with your food benefits from the government and you’re trying to stretch for your family ... you’re buying white bread, you’re buying ramen noodles, you’re buying things that provide that calorie content that your family needs, but you might not get the nutritional value.”
Trends within food insecurity
Phoenix Community Farm founder Beth De Vries said nutrition insecurity is a real problem and a reason why she opened her non-profit farm. When De Vries was working as a nurse practitioner, she advised people to eat nutritious food for their health. But many were saying that they simply couldn’t afford it.
Additionally, many people who face food insecurity aren’t in the poverty rate and are employed, De Vries said.
“They have jobs, they don’t qualify for the government funded programs ... but they’re not making high enough income,” she said. “They aren’t able to afford healthy food or have to really make difficult choices about food and paying their bills.”
According to the United Way of Midland County, ALICE (Asset Limited Income Constrained, Employed) are those families who work to provide for themselves but don’t make enough money. Nearly 60% of ALICE households are food insecure, United Way of Midland County reports. Meanwhile, 35% of families in Midland County are below ALICE threshold.
At the same time, food prices continue to increase. On average, the cost of a meal in Michigan is $3.41, according to 211 data.
Bridge Food Center volunteer Jan Thompson said the Bridge is a low-cost grocery store with $0.05 price over the wholesale. She said it aims to serve people that make less than $72,000 a year, which mostly includes the ALICE population.
Since Bridge moved to a new location this January, it has seen 1000 new customers, Thompson said.
“We have all kinds of choices here from name brand stuff to off brand and it’s all food that is not expired,” she said. “We’re not a food pantry or a giveaway. ... It’s a wonderful opportunity for all those people that do have food insecurities to put good, nutritious food on the table.”
McKenzie received a phone call from a person in a county on the perimeter of Midland, who couldn’t afford groceries. He has a job that pays well, but it is seasonal. McKenzie said the man was embarrassed to go to the food panty in his own community, because everyone knows him there. McKenzie soon advised him to come to the Bridge.
“The Bridge is an option for someone who does have a job and would feel that internal struggle,” she said. “It’s really nice to have this as an option to direct people to because the volunteers here are so wonderful, they’re here because they have the heart of service in the community. It’s set up like a grocery store, so there’s no question of whether or not his dignity was served well in that moment.”
Food Bank’s Wisneski said food is important for the ALICE demographic as well as kids and seniors because it is a basic need and what allows humans to operate their daily lives.
“When people are hungry ... if someone can’t think about anything else other than food, it’s hard for them to be a productive member of society,” she said. “If you can have access to fresh, healthy food, that’s going to drastically decrease your potential to have different diseases, along with the stress if you’re stressing and don’t know where your next meal will come from.”
Who can help?
When shopping at the Bridge, Thompson said, a customer gets benefit items. For example, if a person spends $10 at the store, they will be able to get an extra box of cereal or another vegetable for free.
Phoenix Community Farm also has two produce stands in Midland, one at 919 Smith Road and another one at the Unitarian Universalist Church. People can take what they need and those who can, can leave a donation.
Additionally, Phoenix Farm donated nearly 30,000 pounds of produce to the community in 2023. Founder De Vries said the farm also offers education of how the food grows to empower the community to eat healthy. One of such classes will also soon offer a dual enrollment credit with Delta College.
Open Door also offers hot and healthy meals for free from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Some other resources to reach out for help are Michigan 211 and Midland County Food Assistance Network. The next food assistance network mobile food pantry event is 9 a.m. Thursday, June 20 at Midland Missionary Church, 479 South 11 Mile Road, Midland.
For those who want to help organizations who battle food insecurities, donations and food drives are important.
Temple said Open Door posts an “ask list” on its Facebook page every week, and donations can be brought to 412 W Buttles St
The Bridge is looking for volunteers, because it is run completely off volunteers, Thompson said.
“If you can get with any local resources, there are always things that they need,” Wisneski said. “If we all work together, it’s much easier to fight food insecurity and hunger.”
She said that a united community can make a big difference. For example, donations are “very valuable,” Wisneski said, as $1 in Food Bank’s money equals to 6 meals.
“Looking towards the future, I feel like a lot of people definitely have their eyes on the situation,” she said. “It’s hitting people even who are not necessarily in that food insecurity category. ...It’s really hard to say what we’re going to see in the next upcoming years. Hopefully, of course, it starts to take a downward turn.”
