Download a copy of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print information provided as PDF files.

Food Security Information

What is food security?
Food security is having enough nutritious food for a healthy, active life at all times.  When individuals or families are food insecure, then they are struggling to have or access enough food on a regular basis.  Food insecurity may be due to a lack of money to purchase enough food, or limited availability of healthy foods in areas without full-service grocery stores.

Those who face food insecurity also tend to have health issues associated with the lack of nutritious food, including higher rates of obesity, Type II diabetes and cardiovascular problems.

Are there food insecure families in the Kenosha community?
A 2006 survey of almost 4,000 households with elementary-age children in the Kenosha Unified School District indicated that 20% of Kenosha area families (1 out of 5) are food insecure, compared with 12% of Wisconsin households statewide and 11% nationally.  This means that out of the roughly 7,700 KUSD households with young children, 1,540 families struggle to put food on the table at some time.

Where can I learn more?
The full report of the Kenosha Unified School District household food security survey is available:
Household Food Security Report

Additional information about hunger in Kenosha County is available :
Hunger Close to Home
Survey of Informal Providers

Hunger Prevention Council

What is the Hunger Prevention Council
The Kenosha County Hunger Prevention Council (HPC) is a coalition of groups working to promote food security and address hunger in our community.  Our membership includes all 4 food pantries in the county, educational and professional organizations, and social service agencies.  Together we seek to address food security issues through supporting research to better understand the problems, educating the public about local hunger issues, and sharing resources to have the greatest positive impact.

Who are the members?
Member List

What research and resources are available?
Resource Page
School Locations and Free/Reduced Meal Sites
School Locations and Free/Reduced Meal Sites East of I-94

Growing Food for Donation

Field of Dreams
Located at 3003 30th Avenue, the Field of Dreams is a community garden where people can rent plots and have space to grow food – whether for themselves or for donation to area pantries.  The garden is now administered by the Kenosha Moose Family Center #286.  For further information about the garden or renting a plot, please contact 262-657-7831

Plant-A-Row for the Hungry
The Plant-A-Row (PAR) is a program of the Garden Writers Association, and has participants all across the U.S.  The purpose of PAR is to create and sustain a grassroots, people-helping-people approach to help address food insecurity.  There are over 70 million gardeners in the U.S. alone, so if every gardener plants one extra row of vegetable and donates their surplus to local food pantries and soup kitchens, a significant impact can be made toward reducing hunger.  In 2005, this program resulted in almost 10 million pounds of produce raised for emergency food relief.

To plant a row of your own, please see http://www.gardenwriters.org/par/ for further information or contact 262-857-1945 to learn about Kenosha area donation sites.