Mississippi Food Network addresses food insecurity to business and community leaders

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- It’s an ironic statistic, but Mississippi, a state known for its agricultural output, is the most food-insecure state in the nation.

That is one of the issues that drives the Mississippi Food Network in its work to provide healthy food to Mississippians experiencing food insecurity.

Cassandra Mobley, Chief Operating Officer for the organization was in Columbus talking to business and community leaders Thursday.

Mobley says with grocery stores closing, or just non-existent, in rural areas, many Mississippians are hit with the double whammy of not having local access to fresh, healthy foods, and not having transportation to make the trip to where it is available.

“It’s difficult to wrap your mind around it if you haven’t experienced it.,” said Mobley. But, just imagine waking up in the morning and not really knowing where your next meal is coming from. That would be a terrible feeling, and we have so many people in our state, at least 1 in 6, that are experiencing that – daily.”

The Mississippi Food Network provides one point 5 million pounds of food monthly through 430 member agencies.