UCHRA Representatives met with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and state food banks this week to discuss the commodity program transition.
UCHRA Executive Director Mark Farley said the conversations were frank and productive. He said he remains unsure why the meeting was not held earlier. Farley said the biggest concerns center on how the food banks, like Second Harvest, will get ready to serve the communities in less than two months.
“Will that happen by October 1st, I don’t know,” Farley said. “You know, so you may see some of our small, rural communities that see a drop off in food being distributed just until Second Harvest is able to form those relationships.”
Farley said partner agencies are needed infrastructure for Second Harvest to ensure these communities stay fed. Farley said the challenge will be for local food banks to develop systems to follow distribution rules and regulations like income verification and citizenship.
Farley said UCHRA will no longer be contracted to provide commodities after the September transition date, but the organization has the responsibility to support everyone in the transition to the best of its ability.
“We’re in the process of helping them understand how much food we’ve distributed over the last several years,” Farley said. “By county, obviously, Pickett County doesn’t receive the same amount of food or serve the same amount of individuals as a Putnam County or a Cumberland County, so we’re trying to help them understand each county and what that looks like.”
Farley said UCHRA will try to help bring in volunteers and partner non-profits to make the transition smoother. Farley said that another priority is ensuring the smaller communities are treated fairly throughout the changes.
“We want to see at the end of the day, the citizens of this region being taken care of,” Farley said. “And that’s our chief goal. We’re going to do whatever we can to make that happen.”
UCHRA announced it would no longer receive funding for the commodity program earlier this summer. The final UCHRA Commodity distribution will take place at the Cookeville warehouse on September 20.
Beginning in October, Cumberland and Van Buren Counties will be serviced by an East Tennessee food bank, while Van Buren County will be served by a Chattanooga area food bank. Second Harvest will serve the rest of the region.
