Food Insecurity Task Force Report

Food Insecurity Task Force Report Approved by GIC Members

Food insecurity, always a problem for many Americans, became significantly exacerbated as we experience the COVID-19 pandemic. Newscasts  showed long lines of cars patiently waiting for a box of groceries. Stories abounded of people who were assisting food banks having to fall back on those same resources to eat. People who never considered requesting assistance were laid off from jobs once considered secure.

A GIC task force was formed in February 2021 to study the issue of hunger in the GIC region. While the need for assistance could be determined empirically, available statistics showed food insecurity at a level of 9.6% of the Beaufort County population and 15.1% in Jasper County. The task force’s focus was on identifying depth and demographics of the need, the resources available to meet that need, and what assistance could be provided to enhance availability and accessibility. The goal was to ensure that needs and supply were well defined and adjustments to better serve this immediate need identified, so that supportive actions could be initiated.

On July 29th, 2021, the Food Insecurity Report and Adequate Wages & Workforce Report were presented to the Executive Committee of the GIC.  On August 14, the draft report was sent to membership for review.  On January 6, 2022 the final report was approved at the General Membership meeting.

The Vision Steering Committee was authorized to explore how to best move forward in seeking acceptance of the report and implementation of the recommendations with cognizant community entities.

This is an on-going, systemic, issue that became significantly exacerbated as we experienced the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you want to provide support to those who are food insecure, consider donating food or funds to food rescue sources or local food pantries and soup kitchens.  This report identifies those services in our area.

You can view, download or print the report by clicking below:

Food Insecurity Task Force Report