Rural communities nationwide are often hit hardest by food insecurity, meaning the people who live there don't have enough access to healthy, affordable food.

Kentucky, according to recently released national data, is no exception.

But over the past three years, the state has made great strides toward addressing food insecurity in distressed rural communities — and it's become a model for other states looking to try new solutions.

Earlier this year, Kentucky hosted the first-ever Summit on Rural Child Hunger, organized by the national No Kid Hungry campaign. The state was selected in part because of its Hunger Initiative, an effort launched by Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles in 2016.

Since it began, the initiative has successfully:

► Donated more than 150 refrigerated coolers and freezers to dozens of food pantries statewide. The cold storage has allowed the pantries to accept donations of fresh and frozen proteins, milk and other items that could previously have spoiled.

► Helped pass the "Food Immunity Bill," which protects groceries, farmers and other entities that donate food to nonprofit organizations from civil or criminal liability as long as there was no intentional misconduct.

► Created an economic incentive for summer meal programs, which encourages school- and nonprofit-led sites to purchase more fruits and vegetables from Kentucky farmers. In 2018, 30 sites participated in the pilot program, purchasing close to 40,000 pounds of local produce that went to Kentucky kids.

► And advocated for the continued funding of the Farm to Food Banks Trust Fund, which awards grants to eligible nonprofit organizations that provide food to low-income Kentuckians.

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"What we've learned in Kentucky is that a one-size-fits-all solution doesn't work," Quarles said about the wide-ranging initiative. "We're a very regional state, and we have to adjust for differences.

"We knew already we had a lot of people operating in this sector. But we could do a better job of helping coordinate them and getting them together because, quite frankly, the cost to Kentucky's economy, the cost to Kentucky's potential workforce, the cost to everyday Kentucky schoolkids was just way too high to ignore."

According to the most recent national data, more than 660,000 Kentuckians were considered food insecure in 2017, including an estimated 186,000 children.

That number is down slightly from the 699,000 people who were considered food insecure in 2015 — thanks, in part, to continued economic recovery from the Great Recession.

But Kentucky still has a higher-than-average rate for food insecurity when compared with the rest of the country. In 2017, Kentucky tied with Texas for the seventh worst rate, according to national data from Feeding America, the country's largest hunger relief organization. It maintains a website that breaks down food insecurity rates for every county in the United States.

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Within the state itself, some counties fare better than others, according to a map from Feeding America, an anti-hunger organization that supports 200 food banks nationwide.

In the eastern part of the state, 12 predominantly rural counties had food insecurity rates at 20% or higher. Food insecurity rates for children in those counties are even greater, topping out at 31.5% in Magoffin County.

People who experience food insecurity have higher chances of developing nutrition-related health issues, such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity, and it costs taxpayers in Kentucky and around the nation millions of dollars in emergency health care.

And the risks are even greater for children, who are more likely to repeat a grade, miss school frequently or not graduate high school if they routinely don't get enough to eat.

"There's still a long way to go to meet the need," said Kate McDonald, coordinator of the KY Kids Eat program through Feeding Kentucky, a nonprofit that supports the state's food banks. "But the work that's being done is really high quality, which is exciting to hear."

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Bailey Loosemore: 502-582-4646; bloosemore@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @bloosemore. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/baileyl.

BY THE NUMBERS

Feeding America, the country's largest hunger relief organization, maintains a website that breaks down food insecurity rates for every county in the United States. The nonprofit recently updated the website to include data for 2017.

Across the country, more than 40 million people were considered food insecure in 2017 — at a rate of 12.5% of the total population.

In Kentucky, 662,360 people were considered food insecure in 2017 — at a rate of 14.9% of the population. That rate was down from 15.8% in 2015.

In Jefferson County, 116,790 people were considered food insecure in 2017 — at a rate of 15.3% of the population. That rate was down from 16.1% in 2015.

The highest rates of food insecurity in Kentucky could be found in its southeastern counties, including Magoffin (22.5%), Wolfe (21.8%), Clay (21.6%) and Harlan (21.4%).

Southeastern counties also have the highest rates of child food insecurity. In Magoffin County, an estimated 940 kids were considered food insecure in 2017 — at a rate of 31.5%. The county with the second highest rate of child food insecurity was Clay County at 29.6%.

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

In June 2018, Courier Journal reporter Bailey Loosemore received a National Fellowship from the University of Southern California Center for Health Journalism to pursue a six-month project on food insecurity.

Loosemore began reporting on the project in July and has since spoken to more than 60 residents, nonprofit leaders, health care providers and Metro employees about how food insecurity affects Louisvillians and how the complex problems could be solved.

Loosemore plans to continue reporting on food insecurity in 2019. She wants to hear your stories and potential solutions. Contact her at 502-582-4646 or bloosemore@courier-journal.com.