Food Insecurity in the Upstate
Ten at the Top Updates
Homelessness & Housing workshop on March 27 on alternative dwelling units
PIQUE for Young Professionals at Milliken & Company on April 16
Events on TATT website
Thank you to TATT funding partners!
How Feed & Seed is Addressing Food Insecurity
The idea for Feed & Seed came out of a series of food systems workshops that Ten at the Top helped convene. Board Chair of Feed & Seed, Mary Hipp, shared the 12-year history of the organization. Feed & Seed Co. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working to close food access gaps and strengthen local food economy. By partnering with farmers statewide, they bring fresh, seasonal produce to communities through markets, schools, and community organizations. Their work supports farmers, expands access to nutritious food, and helps build a more sustainable and resilient local food system.
In April of 2022, Feed & Seed was established at Judson Mill. The Hayne Hipp Community Room is a community space for rent, and there are commercial kitchens for bulk cooking and food prep. There is a food waste program with rooms for dehydrating, freeze-drying, and or flash freezing fruit, a 5,000 sq. ft. walk in freezer and cooler space, good agricultural practices wash and pack room, good manufacturing practices warehouse, and processing facility for food preparation. Tours are welcome!
Feed & Seed’s role is as a connector and storage house, making sure local products get to end users.
Food banks in SC had a 30% increase in demand since March of 2025.
Food insecurity by the numbers:
14.4% of South Carolinians are food insecure with the majority being veterans, seniors, children, those with disabilities.
South Carolina is 7th in the nation in food insecurity.
During the 2025 Federal shutdown the USDA was completely shut down. Some food access programs were reinstated. Several food access programs that Feed & Seed participated in locally were not reinstated, such as Local Food Purchasing Assistance (LFPA) Local Foods in Schools (LFS), and Fresh for Life.
Programs that are still in place:
FoodShare SC – Feed & Seed provides produce boxes for Pickens, Oconee, and Abbeville Counties
Veggie RX with Rural Clemson Health – prescription food boxes
Supporting Community Agriculture and Local Education Systems (SCALES).
See Upstate Food Access Map for food resources.
Resource Update – LISC of Upstate South Carolina
The resource update was provided by Dawn Deck, Executive Director of LISC Upstate South Carolina. LISC is a national organization – Local Initiative Support Corporation. “LISC is one of the country’s largest community development nonprofits, helping forge vibrant, resilient communities across America. They work with resident and partners to close gaps in health, wealth, and opportunity so people and places can thrive.”
LISC delivers grants, loans, equity and capacity building support to under resourced communities by leveraging relationships to provide resources. There are 34 local offices, focusing in Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson in the Upstate but not limited to those areas.
LISC has 10 program lanes: housing, digital equity, education and childcare, health, sustainability, safety and justice, sports and youth development, economic development, income and wealth building, and small business. The work is demand based.
In the Upstate, the focus is on affordable housing, economic development, income and wealth building, and capacity building through investing in nonprofits and CDCs, providing training, technical assistance, and funding to help trusted organizations scale their impact.
The Financial Opportunity Center was recently established in Anderson in partnership with Anderson Interfaith Ministries (AIM).
LISC Upstate has invested over $765 million in South Carolina resulting in 7,108 affordable homes and apartments and 40,000 sq. ft. of commercial and community space.
As a CDFI, LISC invests loans in projects such as community facilities, mixed use, commercial/industrial development, affordable housing, charter schools, and economic development.