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The cold and snowy weather has prevented Food on Foot from getting food to the Hamblen County Schools students due to school being out.

Founder/President Carolyn Jarnagin said that it breaks her heart knowing that some students who depend on the weekend food bags have been doing without.

“We have a heart for these kids,” Jarnagin said. “We have had to cancel the weekend food bags due to schools being out.”

Two weeks ago when the Polar Vortex wreaked havoc on the Lakeway Area, the bags were distributed on Wednesday due to inclement weather that week.

Jarnagin has been unable to get to the 1 Berkline Drive location due to back roads being slick and icy.

“We have a heart for the kids having to be at home and not getting their free lunches and breakfasts,” Jarnagin said. “We were going to distribute the bags Wednesday, but school was out.

“It breaks our hearts not to be able to take the weekend bags to the students,” Jarnagin said. “We’re deeply saddened that we were unable to distribute the bags.”

Since Food on Foot began almost 18 years ago, support has grown to the point where 657 students across 17 Hamblen County schools receive the weekend bags. Food on Foot can’t continue this work without the support of local churches, volunteers and businesses.

According to October, 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, one in every eight American adults are struggling to afford enough food.

Nearly 28 million adults nationwide — 12.5% of the adult population — were living in homes where there was either sometimes or often not enough to eat in the last week.

This is the highest that figure has reached since the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The survey indicated that 3.0% of American adults “often” did not have enough to eat in the last week and 9.5% “sometimes” did not have enough food that October.

Another 33.8% reported having enough food, but not always the kinds they wanted, while 53.7% could afford and access the kinds of food they wanted at all times.

The USDA food security as access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all members of a household. According to the department, a household is considered food secure if it can eat an adequately nutritious diet without resorting to using emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other measures.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) identifies four general levels of food security from high to very low. Children in households with very low food security may have to skip meals or go a whole day without eating due to limited money or resources.

Conversely, everyone in a food secure household has consistent access to healthy meals and no one worries about affording groceries or running out of food. The USDA provides nutritional support to Americans through a host of programs, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP participation increased from 37.1 million in January, 2020 to 41.4 million in October, 2023.

To support Food on Foot’s mission to feed the hungry, mail a check to P. O. Box 2129, Morristown, TN 37816. Call 865-566-5778.