Opinion: New healthy food distribution hub will make an impact in central Pennsylvania

We regularly meet people who believe the worst of our hunger crisis is behind us.

They reference the pandemic and the enormous number of people who needed help and suggest food insecurity must have lessened since then.

We respond with an answer that surprises them: We are in a hunger crisis. One in 9 adults and one in 7 children in central Pennsylvania is experiencing food insecurity. These are the alarming statistics that keep us focused on our work at the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.

In fact, between 2022 and 2023, CPFB partners reported a 27% increase in the number of households they served, and 2024 is on pace to exceed 2023 numbers. This is almost beyond comprehension, but this extreme need continues as we approach the holiday season. In Centre County, our research shows nearly 8% of residents face food insecurity and nearly 6% of children in the county.

It is the reason we are creating a third food distribution center, or Healthy Hub, in Hollidaysburg. A year ago, we committed to the region that we would open a healthy hub, with completion expected before the New Year. The hub will provide food for neighbors facing hunger in Blair, Bedford, Centre, Clearfield, Fulton, Mifflin and Huntingdon counties. It will mean a more streamlined and faster delivery of healthy food to our many partners in these counties.

It also will allow us to boost our use of local nutritious food sources in this region. This, in part, can happen because of a federal infrastructure grant that allowed us to purchase a state-of-the-art industrial freezer and coolers.

We are already hearing from our partners just how excited they are to have a distribution center in the region. Just like places all over the state, they are seeing a steady uptick of people needing food. Many of their clients are seniors on a fixed income or working families where parents don’t earn enough to stretch out paychecks to cover all the monthly costs. Thanks to food pantries, they don’t have to decide between buying their prescription drugs, for example, and groceries.

As for why we are seeing a growing wave of food insecurity, we can look around and quickly see some reasons. Through our “hunger mapping” research work, our neighbors tell us that years of key COVID-era government investments, including the expanded Child Tax Credit and Enhanced Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Benefits, brought food insecurity rates down in 2021. Those programs lost funding, and the jump in food insecurity during 2023 and 2024 is especially pronounced among children, who were the primary beneficiaries of the expanded CTC. We also know all families are getting less food for their dollars these days as prices have gone up. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics calculated that the cost of food at home has shot up by 27% in the last five years nationally. Add in increased housing costs, child care expenses, household cost inflation, transportation costs, and medical expenses, and it becomes clear why families are in difficult financial straits.

All of this is to say our work to end hunger has never been more important as food insecurity rates have gone up in each of the 27 counties we serve. Our hunger mapping research and data collection are vital to understanding how we can best reach and serve our neighbors facing hunger. Very soon, we will begin our hunger mapping of Blair County, and next year, we will release data on the overall state of hunger in the county.

One bright side, however, is the difference our new Healthy Hub will make. Over the next three years, the Hub will provide enough food to supply 28 million meals in the region – at a current value of $115 million – free to our neighbors who are struggling with hunger.

Our Hollidaysburg Hub is another example of how we are working together with our partners to make stronger impacts in our communities. Part of this comes from our loyal volunteers, our incredible donors, and those who help us spread awareness. All of this is our recipe for beating food insecurity here and across central Pennsylvania.