We Know How to Solve This. We Just Won't.

Food insecurity in the news today.

That doesn’t happen very often, at least not at the level of making front-page news. It’s the first time I’ve seen it there since I became involved in working on this problem some 20 years ago.

But in those 20 years, regardless of the headlines, it doesn’t seem that anything has really changed.

Let’s be real for a moment. Can we?

The reality is that no one starved to death in Northwest Arkansas last night. Perhaps that’s why most people dismiss it and fail to recognize food insecurity as a genuine problem.

Of course, unless it’s happening to you.

Granted, it’s not an easy problem to understand. It requires attention to seek and understand, which means thinking critically. You have to listen. It requires you/us to confront the harsh truths of capitalism and our colonial past and present.

(And this is the point at which we’ve now lost most of those who could actually help solve the problem systemically)

We ask the government to solve it for us, but then someone somewhere brings up concerns about Socialism or Marxism or, worse, Communism. This is the sufficient fear that shuts compassion down, and it is usually voiced by people who don’t actually know what Socialism, Marxism, or Communism really is.

So, we choose to continue thinking that Capitalism will solve it.

Except it hasn’t.

Maybe we just need to give a little more time? There’s our out.

But this is the reality:

Arkansas has the highest food insecurity rate in the nation, at nearly 19%, significantly higher than the national average of 13.5%. More than 89,000 people across the four-county area of Benton, Carroll, Madison, and Washington counties are food insecure.

The problem varies by community:

24% of Bentonville students qualify for free and reduced-price meals, that number jumps to 42% in Fayetteville, 60% in Rogers, and a striking 72% in Springdale.

It was reported that at Springdale High School, nearly 30% of upperclassmen experienced food insecurity at moderate to high levels, with 25% reporting they had been hungry at least a few times in recent weeks.

The nonprofits, schools, cities, churches, and food pantries fighting this crisis are robust, but they are stretched thin.

The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank distributed over 14 million pounds of food in 2024, providing more than 12.4 million meals through its partnership with over 110 agencies, an increase from just 6.9 million meals in 2015.

Samaritan Community Center alone served 77,487 warm meals, provided groceries to 54,337 people and families, and distributed 204,505 snack packs to children at risk for weekend hunger in 2024.

It is estimated that 18,370 residents in Benton and Washington counties combined rely on SNAP benefits to afford food.

The reality is striking: in one of America’s wealthiest regions, tens of thousands of neighbors, including working families, seniors who must choose between medicine and food, and children who struggle to focus in school, face the daily reality of not knowing where their next meal will come from.

What would solving food insecurity actually require?

Not food drives, but living wages.

Not more pantries, but affordable housing.

Not charity, but structural change to the systems that create poverty in the first place.

Today, the Alice Walton School of Medicine celebrated its grand opening, marking a $700 million investment in revolutionizing healthcare in Northwest Arkansas. This is genuinely good news. We need more doctors, better healthcare, and innovative approaches to wellness.

But as I watched the celebration, I couldn’t help but think: what if we approached food insecurity with the same ambition, the same investment, and the same belief that systemic change is possible?

There are brilliant people in our region working to solve systemic problems. They’ve transformed retail, pioneered supply chain innovation, and now they’re reimagining medical education.

These are people who don’t accept “that’s just how things are.” Yet when it comes to the 89,000 food-insecure people in our own backyard, we’ve settled for managing the problem rather than solving it.

After 20 years of watching the same cycle repeat itself - more need, more charity, more statistics, yet no structural change - I have to wonder: what would it take for someone to tackle food insecurity the way we tackle everything else in Northwest Arkansas?

Not with band-aids, but with the same transformative thinking that built this region.

The resources are here.

The talent is here.

What’s missing is the recognition that 89,000 hungry neighbors is actually a crisis worth solving.

The people on the front lines of this crisis need resources. Consider supporting:

• Northwest Arkansas Food Bank – Serving Benton, Carroll, Madison, and Washington counties

• Samaritan Community Center – Providing meals, groceries, and wraparound services in Rogers and Springdale

• Local food pantries like First United Methodist Church Bentonville 2nd Street Food Pantry and dozens of others across the region

Food insecurity is a policy issue.

Contact your city council members, state legislators, and congressional representatives. Ask them what they’re doing to address food insecurity in Northwest Arkansas and what structural solutions they support.

U.S. Senators (Arkansas)

• Senator John Boozman: https://www.boozman.senate.gov/

• Senator Tom Cotton: https://www.cotton.senate.gov/

U.S. Representative (3rd District - covers Northwest Arkansas)

• Representative Steve Womack: https://womack.house.gov/

Find Your State Senator and Representative:

• Arkansas State Legislature Directory: https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/

• Find Your Legislator Tool: https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/legislators/search

Key NWA State Senators (as of 2025):

• District 1 (Benton County): Senator Clint Penzo

• District 2 (Washington County): Senator Colby Fulfer

• District 3 (Benton County): Senator Bart Hester

• District 4 (Washington County): Senator David Wallace

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders: https://governor.arkansas.gov/contact/

• Bentonville City Council: https://www.bentonvillear.com/government/city_council/

• Rogers City Council: https://www.rogersar.gov/government/city-council

• Springdale City Council: https://www.springdalear.gov/government/city-council

• Fayetteville City Council: https://www.fayetteville-ar.gov/government/city-council

Real change requires addressing root causes. Support efforts to:

• Raise the minimum wage to a living wage

• Expand affordable housing initiatives

• Strengthen SNAP and other safety net programs

• Invest in workforce development and education

Learn about the connections between capitalism, poverty, and food insecurity. Understand how systemic racism creates the disparities we see across communities. Explore resources like Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap and the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance.

The solutions exist. We just have to choose them.

Arkansas Advocate. “New report ranks Arkansas’ food insecurity rate worst in the U.S.” September 4, 2024. https://arkansasadvocate.com/2024/09/04/new-report-ranks-arkansas-food-insecurity-rate-worst-in-the-u-s/

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “Northwest Arkansas school districts offer free summer meals to all youth.” June 7, 2021. https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/jun/07/northwest-arkansas-school-districts-offer-free/

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “Northwest Arkansas schools prepare for meal changes.” July 18, 2022. https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2022/jul/18/nw-schools-prepare-for-meal-changes/

Aspire Arkansas. “Families: Food Insecurity.” https://www.aspirearkansas.org/families/food-insecurity

Axios NW Arkansas. “Shutdown puts food access at risk in Arkansas.” October 28, 2025. https://www.axios.com/local/nw-arkansas/2025/10/28/snap-shutdown-arkansas-food-access-risk

Feeding America. “Hunger & Poverty in the United States | Map the Meal Gap.” https://map.feedingamerica.org/

KNWA/Fox 24. “Arkansas ranks one of the worst states in food insecurity, study says.” October 27, 2023. https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/study-arkansas-one-of-the-worst-states-in-food-insecurity/

Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. https://www.nwafoodbank.org/

Samaritan Community Center. https://www.samcc.org/

Talk Business & Politics. “More than 600 Springdale High School students face food insecurity.” March 16, 2016. https://talkbusiness.net/2016/03/more-than-600-springdale-high-school-students-face-food-insecurity/

Talk Business & Politics. “Northwest Arkansas Food Bank.” April 7, 2025. https://talkbusiness.net/2025/04/northwest-arkansas-food-bank/

UAMS Northwest Regional Campus. “Community of Practice.” https://nwa.uams.edu/chr/programs/nutrition/community-of-practice/

U.S. Department of Agriculture. “Household Food Security in the United States in 2023.” Economic Research Service, 2024.