| According to Feeding America, 10.7% of Georgians, or 1 in 9 people, experienced food insecurity in 2021. This includes 1 in 6 children, and 13.3% of Georgia children live in food insecure homes. The Atlanta Community Food Bank reports that 1 in 9 people in their 29-county service area are food insecure, including 1 in 7 children. |
Additionally, according to information gathered at a local USDA meeting addressing food security in Macon, the top challenges include (but are not limited to):
- Lack of education about growing food.
- Lack of cooking and food preservation classes.
- Rising cost of products to start an edible garden.
- Lack of community awareness of resources that already exist.
- Perception that growing and cooking one’s own food has value.
- Availability and affordability of junk food at corner stores.
- Inconsistency of the availability of fresh food.
- Unsustainability of annual gardens.
- Lack of availability of fresh food to purchase.
- Lack of transportation to stores and farmer’s markets.
| While all of this is true, it really doesn’t show the whole picture. If you do not grow enough food to sustain your family, YOU are also food insecure. All that it would take for you to lose access to food is the trucks failing to deliver to the stores for whatever reason (supply chain breakdown, no gas, financial emergency, natural disaster, etc.). |
| If you couldn’t buy food at a grocery store, how long would you be able to eat? |
| Do you want to do something about food security in Georgia? Because you can! We invite you to link arms with Shaome Cooperative to HELP US HELP YOU (and others) to become more food secure. Here’s how: Learn more about composting and growing food. Start growing something. Contact us for ideas and/or help. Share your bounty! Help others learn to grow their own food by donating to Shaome Cooperative, starting a neighborhood co-op, and giving some of your harvest away. |
