HIGH POINT, N.C. -- The Greater High Point Food Alliance is exploring strategies to end hunger in the community. It hosted a summit where community members and organizations shared ideas on how to improve access to good food for the city's poor .
People at the summit know well that hunger is a huge issue in High Point.
"We're number two in the United States in food hardship, which means about 23 percent of the folks that live in this community in the greater Greensboro-High Point area didn't have enough money at some point in the last 12 months to buy groceries,” said Carl Vierling, a summit organizer. “We're number four in the nation in food insecurity."
Vierling said many in the community had little or no access to nutritious food.
"We've got seven food deserts in High Point, which means there are no supermarkets in these areas, that the only place they can go to is a convenience store," said Vierling.
The summit is aimed at better coordinating existing efforts to feed the hungry.
"When you're bringing farmers together, when you're bringing churches, when you're bringing organizations together and combining all of these resources you can essentially make a mighty fist,” said Ariane Webb with the Guilford County Department of Social Services. “That can make a huge dent in this issue of hunger."
And there's a focus on new solutions.
"Mobile food pantries,” said Vierling. “You're looking at doing mobile farmers markets."
Helping the unemployed get back to work is also key.
"Jobs. When people were working they bought their food,” said Jo Williams, director of Triad Food Pantry. “They felt good about themselves, to go into the grocery store and get what they want."
The summit in the former JC Penney store at Oak Hollow Mall will wrap up Saturday at 6 p.m. with a plan.
"These are the things we want to do in 90 days,” said Vierling. “These are the things we want to do within one year, and this is how we're going to go about doing it."