The third annual Drive to Feed Kidstook place on Tuesday, Aug. 13 at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia. More than 750 Missouri FFA members from 73 chapters across the state gathered to pack meals for food insecure families. They exceeded their goal by packing more than 128,400 meals.

Kids feeding kids is the focus of the 2019 Drive to Feed Kids, and Missouri agriculture is banding together once again to address the alarming reality that one in five Missouri children regularly face hunger. The goal of this collaboration is to raise funds to provide food for hungry Missouri children and stand in the gap for those children who face food insecurity.

According to recent data from Feeding America’s “Map the Meal Gap,” more than 240,000 children in Missouri do not know where their next meal will come from. Missouri counties with the highest rates of food insecurity are disproportionately rural, where one out of every three children face food insecurity.

“We continue to see food insecurity grow in rural areas,” said Gary Marshall, Missouri Farmers Care chairman. “Through Drive to Feed Kids, we have the opportunity to raise awareness, while showcasing the tremendous work of farmers and ranchers who leverage science, technology, their expertise and natural resources to provide food for the world.”