For the 14th straight year, Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB) supported Feeding Georgia by making a financial donation during the GFB Annual Convention, held in December on Jekyll Island. 

Funds for the $20,000 donation were raised through Farm Bureau’s Harvest for All campaign, which included donations from county Farm Bureaus and the organization’s state office. The Harvest for All campaign is coordinated by the GFB Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) Committee.

“Georgia Farm Bureau takes pride in serving communities around the state,” GFB President Tom McCall said. “Our Harvest for All donation is one way we give back to our communities by providing proper nutrition for those who are struggling. We are happy and proud to support Feeding Georgia and its programs.”

Monetary donations to Feeding Georgia help offset costs associated with collecting and distributing donated food, and they allow the organization to purchase food items to round out a nutritional diet. 

McCall and GFB YF&R Committee Chairman Cleve Jackson presented the check to Feeding Georgia Executive Director Danah Craft. 

The Young Farmers & Ranchers Harvest for All Program provides funding that enables food banks to purchase food like protein, fruits and vegetables to round out their offerings to families. This means that they can provide all the food components necessary for a healthy meal.  

“We are grateful to the YF&R and the entire Georgia Farm Bureau family for this generous contribution and their ongoing commitment to helping food insecure neighbors in their communities,” said Craft. “The donation will be split equally between the seven Feeding America food banks serving Georgia's 159 counties.”  

Craft said the Feeding America food banks in Georgia distribute more than 173 million meals each year through a community-based network of 2,400 pantries.  Feeding Georgia is a partner state association of Feeding America.

Feeding America says each dollar given helps provide 10 meals for families facing hunger, meaning GFB’s donation makes approximately 200,000 meals possible.

The USDA defines food insecurity as lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life. Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap survey revealed that 13.1% of Georgians (approximately 1.4 million people) experienced food insecurity in 2022, the latest year for which data is available. Of those, 32% did not qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

 According to the 2023 Georgia Hunger Study commissioned by the Georgia Department of Human Services and conducted by the University of Georgia, 60% of Georgians who use food banks are employed but do not make enough money to pay for all their essential needs. Often, they are forced to choose between buying food and paying for utilities, transportation, medicine or housing.

Of Georgians who turn to food banks for nutrition, 12.2% are veterans or current military members and 42.8% have some level of college education. Another 35.2% have completed high school or earned a GED.

In 2014, Feeding Georgia, then the Georgia Food Bank Association, started its Farm to Foodbank program, through which it accepts food donations directly from farmers, who give nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables that grocery chains won’t buy for aesthetic reasons. Donations of food by Georgia’s farmers provide millions of meals each year. The GFBA attributes the success of the Farm to Foodbank program to its affiliation with Georgia Farm Bureau.

Georgia Farm Bureau’s Harvest for All donation will have a statewide impact. The Feeding Georgia distributes the funds to America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia in Savannah, the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the Chattanooga Area Food Bank (Food Bank of Northwest Georgia), Feeding the Valley in Columbus, the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia in Athens, Golden Harvest in Augusta, the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank in Macon and Second Harvest of South Georgia in Valdosta. To see which counties each food bank serves, click here.  

Since 2004, GFB has coordinated annual Harvest for All campaigns through which GFB members across the state have donated about 49,000 pounds of staple food items and more than $300,000 in cash donations distributed to the food banks located throughout Georgia affiliated with Feeding America.