The Mississippi Food Network and Extra Table Feeds recently announced that Ridgeland-based Cal-Maine Foods donated 10,800 dozen eggs to their food bank distribution efforts.
“Our 5,400 dozen egg donation was gone in three text messages,” said Cassandra Mobley, interim CEO of the Mississippi Food Network.
Shamira Muhammad
Cal-Maine Foods donates more than 10,000 dozen eggs in Mississippi
Mobley says typically, her organization serves more than 150,000 individuals per month across 56 counties in the state, but the demand on the network’s supply chain has grown in recent weeks as more people seek food assistance because of the government shutdown.
“Some people may not have ever had to go to a food pantry that have been affected by this situation. You've got federal workers not getting paid right now and they don't even know where to go,” she said.
More than 13% of Mississippi’s population rely on SNAP benefits. Mobley says there is a common misconception that charitable food programs only accept shelf-stable food.
“We have the capacity to distribute fresh food, produce, eggs, milk, meat, all of that,” she said. “We distributed 27.2 million pounds of food last year. Out of that, about 30% of it was fresh.”
Martha Allen is the Executive Director of Hattiesburg-based non-profit, Extra Table Feeds.
“We are distributing lots of Mississippi product this month,” she said.
Allen says at least 35,000 pounds of rice, truckloads of sweet potatoes, more than 9,000 chickens and, now, 5,400 dozen eggs will be sent to local partners.
Commissioner of Agriculture Andy Gipson says farmers have also been hit hard by the delay in SNAP benefits.
“Lots of grocery stores not selling product, not moving product. That trickles back to the farmers who have product to sell,” he said. “So yes, it's having a very negative effect in terms of the overall commerce of the state as well, that interruption. I think we have to start looking at innovative ways that we can be prepared for this type of a federal shutdown in the future.”
Beginning November 10, the Mississippi Department of Human Services issued 65% of the month’s SNAP benefits.