Hunger at the Harvest
By Stephanie Bernaba
On a Monday morning in North Kingstown, a food bank van
pulls up to Luckyfoot Ranch and loads whatever perishable produce the farm
didn’t sell over the weekend. Tomatoes, lettuce, maybe some carrots. It is a
small gesture in the face of an enormous problem, but for farmer Matthew
Thibodeau, it is nonnegotiable.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I wish we'd be honest enough to
say "hunger" instead of "food insecurity." - Will Collette
“Anything that’s worth keeping all goes to somebody,”
Thibodeau said.
That ‘somebody’ is increasingly difficult to count. One in
three Rhode Island households is now food insecure, a rate that has climbed
37.5% since 2020, according to the RI Life Index survey conducted by Blue Cross
& Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Brown University’s School of Public
Health. When the federal government shut down last fall and Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program benefits ground to a halt, more than 102,000 Rhode
Islanders sought emergency food assistance from the Rhode Island Community Food
Bank’s statewide network, the highest number the organization has ever
recorded.
The state’s hunger crisis is not happening in a vacuum. It
is colliding with a parallel emergency among the very farmers, markets and
nonprofit organizations best positioned to help solve it. Grocery prices
nationwide have climbed roughly 29% since the start of the pandemic, according
to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Federal nutrition programs face
unprecedented cuts. And Rhode Island’s local food producers, already struggling
to turn a profit on some of the most expensive farmland in the country, are watching
their customer bases shrink.
The question is no longer whether the food system is broken.
The question is whether Rhode Islanders can piece together an alternative
before the cracks widen beyond repair.
The numbers behind the need
The data is bleak and growing bleaker. Food insecurity
disproportionately hits communities of color in Rhode Island, with 55% of
Latino households and 47% of Black households reporting food insecurity
compared to 33% of white households, according to the RI Life Index. Low-income
Rhode Islanders miss an estimated 42 million meals per year.
The Rhode Island Community Food Bank and its 137 member
agencies averaged 84,400 individuals served per month in 2024, a 9% increase
over the prior year. That figure spiked dramatically during the November 2025
government shutdown, when $29 million in federal food assistance failed to
arrive on schedule for approximately 145,000 SNAP recipients statewide.
“We cannot fundraise or run-a-food-bank our way out of
this,” Rhode Island Community Food Bank CEO Melissa Cherney said when the
organization released its 2025 hunger report in January. “Hunger in Rhode
Island is too big a problem for any one organization to solve.”
The landscape is about to get harder. The federal
reconciliation law enacted in July 2025 cut $187 billion from SNAP over the
next decade, the largest reduction in the program’s history. The law
immediately halved federal funding for SNAP administration and will, for the
first time, require most states to pay 5 to 15% of benefit costs. Rhode
Island’s new SNAP costs could ultimately add more than $60 million to the
state’s existing $300 million structural deficit, according to state Budget
Director Brian Daniels. Another 2,300 refugees and legal asylum seekers in
Rhode Island were already cut off from food assistance in February due to
changes in immigration status.
Gov. Dan McKee’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget would
double general fund allocations to the food bank from $1 million to $2 million.
But advocates say the charitable food system cannot substitute for federal
programs that serve tens of thousands.
At the farmer’s market, a lifeline with limits
For the past 17 years, Farm Fresh Rhode Island has been
running a program called Bonus Bucks that serves as a parallel currency for
SNAP recipients at farmers’ markets statewide. The mechanics are simple. A
shopper walks up to a market manager’s table, swipes an EBT card for whatever
amount they choose, and receives tokens equivalent to that amount for general
food purchases. Then they receive a matching amount in Bonus Bucks restricted
to fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs.
“Functionally, they walk away with $20 to shop at the
farmer’s market,” said Thea Upham, senior director of operations at Farm Fresh
Rhode Island. “Those tokens never expire. And since we manage the statewide
system, someone could swipe their card in Newport and then use their benefits
in Providence.”
What many shoppers do not realize is that the matching
dollars do not come from the state or from the federal SNAP program. Farm Fresh
raises those funds through competitive grants, primarily from the USDA’s Gus
Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP).
In 2025, the program issued $226,743 in Bonus Bucks and
processed another $226,743 in SNAP spending at 17 market locations across the
state, generating a combined economic impact of $453,486. The Hope Street
Farmers’ Market in Providence led all locations with $108,784 in total
activity. The Armory Market followed at $87,430. South Kingstown’s market, the
highest-producing site in Washington County, accounted for $18,816.
The program’s data shows the multiplier effect is real.
Every dollar invested in Bonus Bucks generates up to $2.40 in direct economic
growth in Rhode Island’s local food economy, according to Farm Fresh Rhode
Island. Over $2 million in Bonus Bucks has been issued statewide since 2009.
The program now reaches 28 farmers’ markets, CSAs, farmstands and delivery
programs, supporting 108 farms and 117 local food producers annually.
But Upham is clear-eyed about the program’s reach. The
estimated number of unique SNAP users who tap into Bonus Bucks statewide each
year is somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000, a fraction of the 145,000 Rhode
Islanders enrolled in SNAP.
“We still know that farmers’ markets aren’t the be-all,
end-all or the solution,” Upham said. “There’s no silver bullet to solve hunger
or nutrition insecurity.”
The program’s future is not guaranteed. The GusNIP grant is
competitive, and its funding has not kept pace with demand. Farm Fresh does not
yet know if it will secure a new award this year, as the federal application
has not even been released. To stabilize funding, the organization is now
backing House Bill 7258, a joint resolution that would allocate $200,000 to
sustain the SNAP match. Sponsored by Rep. Susan Donovan of Bristol and nine
co-sponsors, the measure was introduced in January and referred to the House
Finance Committee, where it is currently pending. A similar bill died in
committee last year after being held for further study.
Farmers feeling the squeeze
Rhode Island’s roughly 1,054 farms operate on just 59,076
acres, or about 10% of the state’s land. It ranks 49th in the nation for
agricultural exports. The state imports the vast majority of the produce its
residents consume. Farmland here is among the most expensive in the country,
and the American Farmland Trust estimates Rhode Island could lose an additional
8,100 acres to development by 2040.
For the farmers trying to make it work, the math is
punishing.
Ben Coerper, co-owner of Wild Harmony Farm, saw his gross
revenue decline from $460,000 in 2024 to $415,000 in 2025 after years of 15 to
20% annual growth. He attributes the drop to macroeconomic forces that are
squeezing his customers.
“I have talked to a number of people in different parts of
the country and everyone that’s doing what we’re doing is in the same boat,”
Coerper said. “Everything” has gone up on the supply side, he added, from feed
to materials.
Coerper, who got into farming after long-term food-related
health issues, now sells pasture-raised pork and beef primarily through an
online store and delivers to about 400 families across the state each year. He
accepts SNAP but acknowledges that few recipients use it because the products
remain expensive relative to conventional options.
His survival strategy is to narrow his focus. In 2022, he
stopped raising chickens himself and found a partner farm to do it to his
specifications, a move he calls the best decision the farm ever made. He is now
considering the same approach with pigs. He recently lost a pig barn in a
blizzard, tore his calf muscle and is scrambling to rebuild before 25 sows give
birth.
“There’s no more important investment than your health,”
Coerper said when asked what he would tell families considering the switch to
locally raised food. “It is more expensive upfront, but it’s going to save you
so much time and so much money from not having to deal with other things that
come about.”
For produce, Matthew Thibodeau at Luckyfoot Ranch grows a
wide range of vegetables across nine greenhouses and open fields. He sells
primarily direct to consumers through a farm stand and three weekly farmers’
markets during the summer season, plus a winter market in Providence. About a
quarter of his sales go to local restaurants.
Thibodeau runs an unconventional CSA where members load a
debit-style card in $100 increments and receive up to 15% extra value on their
balance. Unlike traditional CSAs that deliver a preset box each week, his
system lets customers buy what they want when they want it, with no expiration
on remaining funds.
“You’re definitely getting quality because when things are
produced locally, they’re not grown all the way across the country,” Thibodeau
said. He pointed to tomatoes as the most striking example. Store-bought
tomatoes are often picked green, force-ripened and shipped for days.
“A lot of folks don’t like tomatoes because they’re really
hard and don’t really taste like a whole lot – because they’re not really what
a tomato should be.”
The bees, the ecosystem and the bigger picture
The interconnection between pollinators and the local food
supply is another pressure point that rarely makes headlines but has serious
consequences.
Thomas Chapman, vice president of the Rhode Island
Beekeepers Association and owner of Chapman’s Homestead in West Greenwich,
keeps hives across Rhode Island and Connecticut (Cedar Lane Apiaries in
Sterling) and sells raw, unfiltered honey wholesale to local markets including
Roch’s Market, West Greenwich Grocery and seasonal farm stands. He also sells
equipment and bees to hobbyist beekeepers, a population he considers essential
to the state’s agricultural future.
“Every hobbyist beekeeper out there is helping out,” Chapman
said. “Even if we’re not doing it specifically to help out farms, every
hobbyist out there that has bees in his backyard is helping out a neighboring
farm somehow.”
Rhode Island’s farms are generally too small to afford
migratory pollination services, Chapman explained, which means they depend on
the cumulative effect of backyard beekeepers whose honeybees forage within a
roughly three-mile radius. But hobbyists are struggling to keep colonies alive
due to the varroa mite, pesticide exposure, habitat loss and increasingly
unpredictable New England winters.
Chapman also raised a consumer-protection issue that is
directly connected to food affordability. His locally produced honey sells for
$16 per pound at retail. Next to it on the shelf sits imported honey labeled
organic and priced at $7.
“There’s no such thing as organic honey because you can be
an organic beekeeper, but your bees are flying a three-mile radius,” Chapman
said. “There’s no way to control where they land.” Imported honey often faces
minimal testing or regulation, he said, and may contain additives. The price
disparity undercuts local producers and misleads consumers who are trying to
make informed choices.
Where Rhode Islanders can find help
For Rhode Islanders navigating the current landscape,
several resources exist to connect them with fresh, affordable and locally
produced food.
Farm Fresh Rhode Island operates the Bonus Bucks
SNAP-match program at 28 locations statewide. Shoppers using EBT cards receive
a dollar-for-dollar match in tokens redeemable for fresh produce. The program
also administers the Fresh Bucks token system at farmers’ markets across the
state. Visit farmfreshri.org for a full list of participating markets and
schedules.
The Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program,
administered through the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management,
provides eligible low-income seniors with $50 per year on a scannable card
redeemable at enrolled farms and farm stands statewide. Seniors can check
availability through their local senior center.
The WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program, run through
the Rhode Island Department of Health, offers seasonal funding for eligible WIC
families to spend specifically at farmers’ markets.
Hope Street Farmers Market at Lippitt Park runs
every Saturday from May through October, rain or shine, with 55 vendors
offering produce, meats, baked goods, beverages and prepared foods. Farm Fresh
Rhode Island operates a Bonus Bucks table on site. The market is vendor-run and
one of the oldest in the state.
Luckyfoot Ranch in North Kingstown offers a farm
stand, a flexible debit-card CSA program with up to 15% added value and
seasonal appearances at three weekly farmers markets. The farm donates leftover
perishables to a local food bank every Monday.
Wild Harmony Farm sells pasture-raised pork,
beef and chicken through its online store and delivers across most of the
state. The farm accepts SNAP and offers bulk pricing on quarter cows, half pigs
and large ground beef boxes for families looking to maximize value.
The Rhode Island Community Food Bank operates a
network of 137 member agencies that provide pantry staples, fresh produce,
meats, dairy and culturally relevant foods. Visit rifoodbank.org for locations
and hours.
The Rhode Island Department of Human Services administers
SNAP benefits. Eligible residents can apply online or in person. Benefits are
loaded monthly onto an EBT card accepted at more than 900 retail locations
statewide, including farmers’ markets.
Facing Uncertainty
Thea Upham at Farm Fresh Rhode Island frames the crisis in
systems terms. The food bank alleviates hunger, she said, but the root cause of
hunger is poverty. Farmers’ markets and programs like Bonus Bucks try to work
upstream, putting purchasing power in the hands of low-income families while
directing dollars into the pockets of local growers.
“How do we empower people to be able to shop for what they
want at the farmer’s market, have dollars that they can use to make their own
choices so that they also, in some ways, sometimes those dollars go further
because they can buy what they actually know they’re going to eat?” Upham said.
The question sits at the intersection of policy, agriculture
and survival. And in a state where farmland is disappearing, federal support is
contracting and one in three families already does not know where their next
meal is coming from, the answer cannot wait.
