Food Access

Download the food insecurity and chronic disease handout for more information and resources. This handout is also available in Spanish: Inseguridad alimentaria y enfermedades crónicas. For low-cost, budget-friendly recipes, please visit our Resources page.

Alabama is the fifth poorest state in the nation, with 17% of adults and 23% of children (1 out of 4) facing food insecurity, or lack of regular access to enough nutritious food for an active, healthy life. For those with low or no income, rent or mortgage and medicine are usually covered first, leaving little for the food budget and other, more flexible expenses.

Poverty, food insecurity, and poor nutrition have serious consequences for the health and well-being of children, adults, and older adults, including a greater risk for chronic disease and poor mental health (FRAC, 2017).

If you or someone you know is struggling with food insecurity, these resources may be able to help.

• 2-1-1—Visit the website, call or text 2-1-1, or call 888-421-1266 for assistance with a multitude of services in your community, such as food, housing, healthcare, transportation, etc.
• +AddMilk! - For every dollar of SNAP benefits a participant uses to purchase healthy fluid milk (skim and 1%) at a participating retailer, +Add Milk! provides a dollar in additional SNAP items.
• Alabama Child Nutrition Program – Sponsors, including school districts, local government agencies, camps, and private nonprofit organizations, provide free meals to children and low-cost meals to adults. Use the interactive map to find a site near you!
• Alabama Food Pantries—Find local food pantries, soup kitchens, food shelves, food banks, and other food assistance programs.
• Benefits Enrollment Center—Helps eligible low-income seniors, adults, and individuals with disabilities find food and enroll in benefits programs that can help them afford necessities like prescriptions, insurance, and housing costs.
• Break for a Plate Alabama - Sit down and eat with us at Break for a Plate, where Alabama's kids eat free – along with teens in our state – all summer while school is out. We have a table ready for you at a participating program site in your community. Use our Location Finder to see where your child or teen can continue to receive two free meals each day during summer vacation.
• Double Up Food Bucks—Every $1 you spend at participating Alabama farmers markets on any SNAP-eligible food with your EBT Card will be matched for more fruits and veggies! You can get up to $20 free per day!
• Elderly Nutrition Program (ENP) - Seniors receive nutritious meals and the opportunity to be active while also building new friendships. In some areas, a meal delivery program is also available for homebound seniors who qualify.
• End Child Hunger in Alabama (ECHA) Interactive Food Assistance Map - With the assistance of volunteers and strategic community partnerships, ECHA is ensuring that families throughout the state of Alabama are aware of food resources in their local county.
• Little Free Pantries—The mini pantry movement is a grassroots, crowdsourced solution to the immediate and local need for food assistance—neighbors helping neighbors. These pantries invite people to take what they need and leave what they can. Check out the interactive map to find a location near you.
• Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) - Eligible seniors receive a $50 benefit card to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from certified farmers at farmers' markets and farm stands in the State of Alabama. Applications open around mid-January each year and close after the maximum number of participants is reached (which varies depending on funding). Applicants must reapply online every year.
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – SNAP's purpose is to end hunger and improve nutrition by providing monthly benefits to help eligible low-income households buy the food needed for good health.
• WIC Program - Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a supplemental nutrition program for pregnant women, breastfeeding women, women who have had a baby within the last six months, infants, and children under the age of five. One must meet income requirements and have a nutritional risk that proper nutrition could help to improve.

Want to be part of the solution? Here are a few ideas:

• Be an advocate
• Volunteer at or donate to a food bank or food pantry
• Start a food pantry --- contact your local food bank to get started
• Start a little free pantry, or donate to an existing one
• Pay off school meal debt for children at a local school district
• Start a BackPack Program at your school
• Start (or ask for) a share table at your school

Food insecurity touches every community. Get to know your neighbors --- food insecurity is closer than you think!