BILLINGS — The rising costs of housing and childcare post-pandemic are leaving Montanans hungry, with a recent report showing 12% of Montana children and 8.5% of all Montanans living in food insecure homes.
One Billings man hopes to curb these trends by offering a plate full of fresh fruit and vegetables grown straight from his garden.
"With very little effort and very little money, we can create a lot of food," said Elliott Oppenheim, who turned a large horse pasture on his six-acre property off of Highway 312. into a garden, planted with a specific purpose.
"We're going to give the food away," Oppenheim said.
In its first year, the garden is planted with corn, squash, tomatoes, melon, onions, and more, which will be donated to local food banks, shelters, and religious organizations.
"There's a big problem with people who are underserved and have low incomes having adequate food, especially vegetables," Oppenheim said.
The 2023 Montana Hunger Report, released by the Montana Food Bank Network in April, shows a new set of challenges post-pandemic for putting food on the table in Montana households.
The report states while a huge boost in government programs and funding helped lower overall trends of food insecurity in Montana, post-pandemic problems of housing and childcare costs are impacting Montanans' ability to purchase food.
Oppenheim said before planting his garden, he checked with organizations that his food donation would be accepted.
"My hope would be that people seeing this will see the utility in their own land of making a garden and giving it all away," Oppenheim said.
