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Tackling Food Security In The Mountain State During A Global Pandemic

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On this West Virginia Morning, food pantries across the state cope as the coronavirus turns life upside down – we’ll explore regional food security in the Mountain State. We also bring you this week’s Mountain Stage Song of the Week.

As restrictions on daily activities tighten and confirmed cases of the coronavirus rise, many West Virginia food pantries say more people are coming to rely on their services.

Federal food resources are being expanded, but organizations on the ground say they’re struggling not only with increased need but also with how COVID-19 is changing day-to-day operations. The team at West Virginia Public Broadcasting reached out to food pantries across the state to see how they’re faring. Brittany Patterson brings us this report.

We had help producing that story from Emily Allen, Liz McCormick, Corey Knollinger and Roxy Todd. We also had help from J.J.N. Multimedia who produced a short film about Five Loaves and Two Fishes Food Bank in McDowell County.

In this time of crisis, we’re reaching out to community leaders who are working on the frontlines to help their towns and regions. Glynis Board spoke with Danny Swan, executive director of the nonprofit Grow Ohio Valley – an organization based in the Northern Panhandle committed to promoting regional food security. Here’s part of their conversation.

While some presume that John Denver’s iconic song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” has been performed on Mountain Stage many times over the years, it has only made a scant few appearances on the show. For our song of the week, here’s the highly decorated bluegrass group Russell Moore & Third Time Out, who closed out their set by honoring an audience request for the classic tune.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.

Our Appalachia Health News project is made possible with support from CAMC and Marshall Health.

West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Caitlin Tan, Jessica Lilly, Kara Lofton, Liz McCormick, Dave Mistich, Brittany Patterson, Eric Douglas, Cory Knollinger, Emily Allen, and Roxy Todd.

Our news director and producer is Glynis Board.

Our host is Teresa Wills.