Page 37 - ATR 5 2014 web

Charitable logistics

The distribution operations of Arkansas charity

by bethany may

Managing Editor

Walking to the warehouse of the
Arkansas Rice Depot, you pass rooms
of metal folding chairs and long tables
with volunteers filling little plastic bags
with small portions of dry rice kernels.
The Depot relies on these rooms with
volunteers, around 8,000 helpers a year,
to accomplish their goals of feeding
food insecure Arkansans.
Every year, the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Economic Research Service (ERS)
reports on the state of food insecurity
in the United States. Like years past,
Arkansas earns the very the top (or
bottom, unfortunately) spot of the U.S.
state rankings. So what is food security?
The USDA describes the spectrum from
high food security (access to enough
food for an active healthy life for all
household members) to very low food
security (indications of disrupted eating
patterns and reduced food intake due
to food access problems). The U.S. food
insecurity average is 14.3 percent, and
Arkansas’ prevalence of insecurity is “wheN you are talkiNg about feediNg
21.2 percent.
Kim Aaron, the president of the huNger, it is so iNteNse. traNsPortatioN is
Arkansas Rice Depot explains, “Hunger exPeNsiVe, aNd that’s why i helP, because i
is an emotion. Food insecurity is more kNow what a struggle it is.”
a description of someone’s life . . . . It
means these [Arkansans] don’t have —butch rice,
food today, and [they] don’t know
where the next meal is coming from.” ceo of stallioN traNsPortatioN aNd PresideNt
The kind of chronic hunger that elect of the arkaNsas huNger relief alliaNce
comes with food insecurity is not a board of directors
new problem for the state. So many
rural counties with high poverty rates
make these numbers unsurprising,
familiar even. However, big food banks

aRkansas tRuCking RepoRt | issue 5 2014 37