More attention than ever before has recently been drawn to the food insecurity problem in Athens County, Ohio.
While the rural county in Southeast Ohio is known across the country as the home of Ohio University, few people outside of Ohio knew of its struggles with food insecurity.
However, Athens County made national headlines when Joe Burrow, quarterback for Louisiana State University’s football team, drew attention to the issue in his 2019 Heisman Trophy acceptance speech.
Burrow, an Athens native, highlighted his home county as a wonderful place with a serious problem.
As the country became aware of the problem, they began to help, with more than half a million dollars in donations to the Athens CountyFood Pantry pouring in almost overnight.
Burrow, who has since been drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals, has been likened to the “Lebron James of Athens,” giving hope to the people of Southeast Ohio the way James has for those in Akron.
The food insecurity rate in Athens County is estimated to be 19.3%. At nearly 7% higher than the national average and 5% higher than Ohio’s average, this statistic leaves Athens County as the Ohio county with the highest levels of food insecurity.
Donations cannot change these figures overnight, but because they vastly surpassed the food pantry’s annual budget of $80,000, it will no longer be forced to pinch pennies each month.
The food pantry was not entirely without assistance even before Burrow’s speech. Students of Ohio University often volunteer and make donations, with Greek Life in particular providing a substantial amount of help each year.
“We try to gather canned goods and other food items from all of our members pretty often so we can make regular donations to the food pantry,” said Carley Shea, a member of Delta Zeta Sorority at OU. “Some of us are also education majors who student teach, so we see how the children in Athens County are affected by food insecurity. This makes us even more inclined to do our part and help out the community that serves as our temporary home.”
Members of Greek Life participate in Homecoming Week each fall and Greek Week each spring, and both of these weeks include a food drive- or fundraising-related event to benefit local organizations.
Even other students, though, may not realize that full-time residents are not the only ones in Athens who struggle to obtain adequate nutritious meals.
In a national survey of 3,765 students from 34 different colleges and universities, 48% reported food insecurity in the previous 30 days. 32% of students of food insecure students in the study believed that issues with hunger or housing negatively affected their educations.
Even when problems are more time-related than financial, college students across the country are not receiving adequate nourishment.
“I usually miss a lot of meals,” said OU junior Spencer Reader. “Between school and work, I just don't really have a lot of time to cook and clean for myself, so typically I just have pre-packaged meals a couple times a day.”
Resources are available to both OU students and full-time Athens residents who struggle with food insecurity.
The Food Pantry, located on the fifth floor of Baker University Center, is available to all students.
Other organizations throughout the community offer free meals throughout the week to anyone who is in need. Food can be found every Monday-Saturday at different churches and community centers across the county.
Athens County is a unique community with an already nontraditional economic situation. Unlike most other homes of large Ohio universities, Athens is a rural area with a fairly low seasonal population. When the majority of its students leave for the summer, local businesses are forced to adapt.
The months between May and August are called the “summer slump,” and many businesses uptown must temporarily shut down to cut costs.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, business owners are left wondering what will become of their businesses with students gone even longer than usual.
The Athens County Food Pantry announced that although food distribution hours would change, food would remain available for those in need throughout the crisis.
While COVID-19 is causing financial blows to people across the globe, ACFP President Karin Bright likened its effect to “rubbing salt into an open wound” in Athens, where families are already struggling.
Reported cases in Athens County remain low, but many believe this is no reason to celebrate. Like other areas across America, Athens is struggling to obtain an appropriate number of test kits. Because the county is so impoverished, this problem may be worsened.
While the help of Joe Burrow and numerous donators had Athens County beginning to see the light, the COVID-19 pandemic reminded residents that poverty brings forth more than food insecurity alone, and that their problems will not be fully disappearing any time soon.
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