Shai Davis of the Hamilton County Health Department told the Carmel mayoral advisory commission the county's food insecurity rate rose from roughly 6% in 2021 to about 10% in 2024 and urged work to close gaps between SNAP eligibility and the people who still struggle to afford nutritious food.

Feeding Indiana's Hungry told Carmel commissioners that Hamilton County had 3,149 households and 6,571 individuals on SNAP in March 2026, and warned that recent state and federal policy shifts — including asset-limit rollbacks, administrative cost shares and new household-reporting rules — may reduce access for some families.