As a young child during the Great Depression, Jefferson City resident Jack Ryan and his family took in homeless wanderers at their small farmhouse, feeding them before they hopped back on the nearby train and headed toward their next destination.
Though the country faced its worst economic struggle, the Ryans, a family of 11, lived off the land and shared their food with the needy knocking on their door.
"Mom always found something to feed those guys, and that stuck with me," Ryan said.
Ryan, now 85, is leading an effort to provide fresh produce to local food pantries. The NEEED project, which stands for Nutrition, Environment, Education and Economic Development, is in its second year. Ryan and volunteers have connected with several local food pantries, giving them organic vegetables grown without the use of pesticides or chemicals. That's a point Ryan said he's proud of, especially with the garden growing a surplus of produce.
"My vision of the garden is one that is commercial style - it's not your backyard, family-type garden, but the image is entirely different," Ryan said. "I want to strive for efficiency and organic food production that is feasible on a commercial scale."
While he has a dream to grow the garden, the NEEED project is throwing out more food than it's giving away - about five times more, Ryan estimated. There aren't enough active volunteers to distribute the produce to pantries, he added, but pantry organizers are welcome to come to the garden on Big Horn Drive and pick vegetables, including tomatoes, turnips, squash and cauliflower.
"I want to say to the food pantries: "You want good, fresh, organically grown produce - come get it,'" he said.
The NEEED garden is not alone in the distribution challenge. Darren Chapman, a University of Missouri graduate student in an interdisciplinary food security program, said pantries often don't have the space or resources to store and chill produce, which could require refrigerated trucks and refrigerators. And, in order to ensure food pantry clients don't receive outdated produce, the shipment and distribution has to be timed before fruits and vegetables go bad, he added.
"I think a lot of (food pantries) assume that if they deny it, someone else will take it and it's not going to waste," Chapman, who works with food pantries across central Missouri, said. "But, I think that's one of the key concerns. In the U.S., the problem isn't creating enough food - it's getting the food to the people. It's a distribution concern, not a food production concern. It has to do with the structure."
Fixing that structure, he said, means greater communication between growers and pantries, resulting in solid connections. Through collaboration, the two entities can timely bring produce from garden to table, Chapman said.
The Pantry at Table of Grace Church isn't experiencing these problems, said its founder Stephanie Scott-Huffman. Smells of various seasoning - garlic, cumin and lemon pepper - permeate throughout the church building at 3328 Bennett Lane in Jefferson City, and various types of squash were up for grabs at the entrance. Table of Grace harvests vegetables at the NEEED garden and goes beyond what it means to be a traditional food pantry.
Volunteers handpick ingredients for meals - such as white chicken chili, chicken pot pie and chicken pasta with vegetables - that clients cook at home. Menu and recipe information is distributed along with the ingrediants on the fourth Friday of the month, but is also available through the Pantry's website at thepantryjc.org.
Upon walking in the front door, clients select their meals from a menu. This choice, Scott-Huffman said, empowers the nearly 300 clients helped monthly. Their goal is to feed people food that is filling and nutritious, and fresh produce from the NEEED garden helps achieve that mission.
"We're trying to help people come away from the idea that poor people can't eat well," she said.
The Pantry's combined education on affordability, health, fullness and food preparation can help lift low-income families out of the system, Scott-Huffman said.
"(Clients) say they had no idea they could buy a dinner for $5, they just thought they could do that with Little Caesar's Pizza," she said.
Generally speaking, many low-income families still have to make tough decisions at grocery stores, Chapman said. Instead of grabbing the $2.50 head of lettuce, he said they are more likely to opt for filling foods that can go further in fighting off hunger.
In Cole County, 4.3 percent of households experience food uncertainty with hunger. Surrounding counties, expect Miller, also fall below the state average at 5.7 percent:
• Boone County, 5.1 percent
• Callaway County, 4.9 percent
• Osage County, 4.4 percent
• Maries County, 4.6 percent
• Miller County, 6.3 percent
• Moniteau County, 4.7 percent
"When it comes to these decision that people have to make, fresh options aren't always the best buy as far as where to spend their money to get calories. And that's what people are tying to do - get calories for the money they have," Chapman said. "For a lot of people, fresh produce isn't an option in that sense, then they go to pantries and it still isn't there because they're providing food given to them by a food bank and that's canned or boxed produce. And, frankly, while those do offer some nutritional value, access to fresh produce increases their nutrient intake and overall health."
A 2013 University of Missouri study, which surveyed 1,150 food pantry clients in the north central region, showed 28 percent of clients don't eat any fresh or frozen fruits weekly, and 24 percent don't consume fresh or frozen vegetables. In contrast, the study also revealed 14 percent of clients eat fresh or frozen fruits seven times or more per week, and 20 percent eat fresh or frozen vegetables at the same rate.
Chapman said more and more people use food pantries as a regular food source, rather than an emergency one, which increases the importance of healthy offerings. More individuals are growing up with food pantry services, he said, and their cooking skills can suffer.
"I think it's important to provide these individuals healthy foods because it's a basic human right to have access to healthy food and live the type of lifestyle that they want and not be forced into a diet just because of their ability to pay for food," he said.
Communities can combat poor health within low-income families with produce production, Chapman said. Typically, food banks give pantries foods with higher shelf lives, he added, which tend to be higher in fat, sodium, sugar and cholesterol content. The University of Missouri study showed 21 percent of clients have diabetes, 46 percent have high blood pressure, 45 percent have high cholesterol and 52 percent have a body mass index in the obesity range. The Missouri state average is 8 percent, 31 percent, 38 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
At First Christian Church, which operates one of the largest local food pantries serving 120 families per week, clients are offered fresh produce thanks to a joint effort between the Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri and Walmart, organizer Morris Woodruff said. Volunteers fill two pickup trucks with produce that's too dated to be sold, but still good to eat. The pantry receives an additional supply from the NEEED project. Fresh produce, Woodruff said, is a commodity clients always appreciate.
"I've had people come through, look at the produce and say, "We're going to eat well tonight.'"