Hunger is rising. But so is our resolve.
Just when you think it can’t get worse—it does.
And there’s no sign of it letting up.
If I can set down my usual optimism for a moment, I want to be honest: things are not looking good for nonprofits fighting hunger. Not here in Nashville. Not anywhere.
This should be simple.
Feeding kids, working parents, seniors.Why is that even up for debate?But here we are.
A few days ago, my friend and colleague Nancy Keil at Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee shared a message that stopped me in my tracks:
In just one year, food insecurity in Middle and West Tennessee jumped from 409,000 to 450,000 people. That’s 450,000 neighbors—families, veterans, and hard-working moms—struggling just to eat.
And that number doesn’t yet reflect the effects of sweeping SNAP cuts that will eliminate more than 300 million meals in Tennessee over the next decade.
At the core this shouldn’t be about politics.
It’s dinner.
It’s school lunches.
It’s a week’s worth of groceries for someone doing everything right—and still falling short.
These SNAP cuts don’t just harm the most vulnerable. They ripple outward. They’ll strain grocery stores, farmers markets, and nonprofits alike. Second Harvest is already bracing for a 4-million-pound food shortfall—that’s 100 truckloads of food, gone.
And as a Second Harvest partner, that’s food we need at The Store.
We don’t receive federal food dollars at The Store. But our shelves don’t exist in a vacuum. If Second Harvest has less, so do the thousands of families who walk through our doors.
The timing couldn’t be worse.
Hunger was already at a 10-year high.
Our waitlist just passed 2,000 households.
And it’s growing.
But this is not where the story ends.
We can’t let policy cuts write the final chapter. Not when what’s at stake is so basic, so human.
This is the part where Nashville shows up—like we always do. We can't do everything. But we can each do something.
Volunteer for a shift at a free grocery store.
Make a charitable investment in a nonprofit fighting hunger.
Use your voice to say: feeding families isn’t optional.
Generosity has deep roots here. So does courage.
Let’s make sure that is what gets the last word.
In just one year, food insecurity in our region has surged—450,000 Tennesseans are now struggling to eat. And with recent cuts to SNAP benefits, the crisis is only deepening. At The Store, we’re feeling the impact. Our shelves are stretched. Our waitlist just passed 2,000 households. And yet—we’re not giving up.
More from The Store
When Benefits Disappear, Families Go Hungry: Why It’s “Unconscionable”
With hunger at a 10-year high and food costs climbing, families in Nashville are facing impossible choices as critical benefits are slashed. A front-page story in The Tennessean highlighted The Store’s perspective on what this means for our neighbors—like the mom who feeds children at a daycare but can’t afford food for her own, or the server who delivers meals all night and comes home to an empty table. At The Store, we believe it’s unconscionable to take food from families already struggling to survive. This blog unpacks the reality of the “benefits cliff,” the growing crisis of hunger, and why proximity and shared values must guide how we respond.
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Who Gets Groceries? The Hardest Question We Face at The Store
Every week, The Store wrestles with an impossible question: With so many waiting for food, how do you decide who gets to come? Our CEO shares how we make these tough choices—prioritizing referrals from trusted partner agencies, managing a waitlist of over 2,000 families, and expanding to new locations so no one has to wait for a basic human need. This post sheds light on the heartbreaking realities of hunger, the importance of working together, and our vision for a community where no family has to wonder if food will be there tomorrow.
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