Mid-South Food Bank briefs commissioners: about 140,000 Shelby County residents face food insecurity

Reginald Alexander, director of government relations for Mid-South Food Bank, presented countywide data on food insecurity and offered to share district-level information with commissioners. Alexander told the commission, "There's approximately 910,226 people in Shelby County at the moment. About a 140,000 of those people are food insecure. 60,000 of them are children." He said the food bank will forward district-specific packets and invited commissioners to visit operations and food pantries.

Vice Chair Brooks and other commissioners asked whether the food bank aggregates senior-specific numbers and partners with senior-serving agencies. Alexander said Feeding America (the national network) does not break down data by county for seniors but that he would provide the requested Shelby County-specific numbers to the commission. He also offered to host commission visits to see operations firsthand.