LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) — Arkansas, already grappling with the highest food insecurity rates in the nation, faces heightened challenges due to the ongoing government shutdown.
However, the community spirit shines through initiatives like Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry. Ronnie Ritter, director of the program, explained how hunters are encouraged to donate their excess harvest to local processors. “We ask hunters to drop off their harvest, their excess harvest, at several of our participating processors all across the state. We have about 70 of them, so there’s one where you live or where you hunt.” Richter said. The meat is then ground into burger and distributed to local food pantries and homeless shelters.
Ritter highlighted the critical need for protein in food pantries, especially during the shutdown. “If you ask a food pantry what they need most, it’s protein, it’s meat, and it’s gotten more and more expensive. I know just buying a burger is really expensive now. So that’s the greatest need we see and food pantries call all the time asking for help,” he said. The program has also expanded to include snack sticks, similar to Slim Jim’s, which are distributed to school children through weekend backpack programs. “To date, we’ve done over 600,000 packages to about 100 schools across the state,” Ritter noted…