Friday, March 29, 2024

Federal grant helping food insecure communities in Oklahoma

TULSA, Okla. — With inflation setting food costs at an all-time excessive, a $14.2 million grant is making it doable for Hunger Free Oklahoma to increase a program that’s helping put contemporary, wholesome food on dinner tables throughout the state.

The news comes as an enormous reduction for low-income households looking for their Thanksgiving necessities.

Sherry Daniels is amongst a whole bunch of hundreds of Oklahomans preparing for Thanksgiving Day, buying Wednesday for these last-minute objects at Oasis Fresh Market.

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“Three big kids, two play football, you know how they eat, and then my husband and I,” Daniels said.

With prices on the rise, she said her budget has gotten a little tighter.

“You know that you have to pay your bills and then you have kids in college, and you have to pay tuition,” Daniels said.

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Daniels uses the snap program to make sure she and her family have food on the table.

“All our money is getting stretched to other resources, so it helps me and my family tremendously throughout the month,” Daniels stated.

While she shopped, she took benefit of “Double Up Oklahoma,” also called DUO via Hunger Free Oklahoma.

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The DUO program matches each greenback households spend with SNAP advantages. Those households can then use the cash to purchase vegatables and fruits.

The federal grant is increasing the DUO program to 50 of Oklahoma’s most food-insecure communities. The program is working in 17 farmer’s markets and ten grocery shops throughout the state. One of these is Oasis Fresh Market in Tulsa.

“That’s why Oasis is here, planted in the middle of a desert and when you know it’s like a fountain to drink, and you’re in the dessert, it’s like you finally found that place… that’s how it is. It’s like we’re quenching the thirst of people who haven’t’ had anything for 14 years,” Daniels said.

For Daniels, the DUO program allows her to share a thanksgiving meal with her family.

“You can use it on packaged greens, sweet potatoes, yams, collard greens, even vegetables that are contained…that’s also an item that’s eligible for DUO.”

It’s one thing she stated she’s very grateful for.

“It’s wonderful as a result of that’s most likely going to be about 40 {dollars} for all my collective objects to make use of in a number of issues…my turkey wants one thing, my potato salad, my collard greens,” Daniels stated.

Chris Bernard with Hunger Free Oklahoma stated they’re hoping to increase this system to all 77 counties in Oklahoma by 2028.

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