OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Last week, the Oklahoma House of Representatives Children, Youth, and Family Services Committee held an interim study focused on food insecurity and assistance access across the state.

The study was organized by Rep. Jeff Boatman of Tulsa.

Boatman requested this study following the legislature’s consideration of Federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

Boatman realized how many Oklahomans struggle to access healthy food and told the committee that when children have limited meals throughout the weekend, they have difficulty focusing in school come Monday morning.

Attendees heard from a variety of speakers, the first being J. Chris Bernard, President and CEO of Hunger Free Oklahoma.

Bernard said, “Food insecurity, generally, and resource scarcity add stress to the household. If you actually look at what scarcity does to the brain, it takes away your ability to think long-term”.

Another speaker, B.K. Bruner said, “These programs that we’ve heard about here today actually impact people’s lives, actually impact people’s ability to be productive, to be able to add to our economy instead of a drain on our economy”.

Dave Wattenbarger, Community Connections Manager for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma spoke on struggles unique to rural Oklahoma and said the most common struggles are with money, manpower, and resources.

“I am very grateful to the speakers who took the time out of their day to visit with us and share their expertise. Food insecurity is a serious concern that affects the well-being and livelihoods of thousands of Oklahomans, and we need to reexamine how we address these issues in Oklahoma, so we are best leveraging the public and private resources we have available”, Boatman said.

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