An unbridled spirit: UK alum is feeding America 1 county, community at a time 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 15, 2024) — In the agriculture industry, there’s an understanding that food brings people together around the table. In Mya Price’s world — where millions are fighting against food insecurity — food, or the lack thereof, can separate people from each other. 

Price, a proud first-generation alum of the Community and Leadership Development (CLD) graduate program in the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, is the Food Security Equity Impact Fund director at Feeding America. The fund is designed to build community solutions to fighting hunger, such as food banks, through partnerships with organizations led by people of color. 

Since joining Feeding America in 2017, the Lexington native has been implementing programs at the national level in Washington, D.C., developing partnerships, promoting policies and serving communities to address the root causes of food insecurity. 

“When I’m in communities advocating for food insecurity on behalf of others, I always proudly mention my home state of Kentucky and my university,” Price said. “Understanding peoples’ stories is what continues to drive me to do this important work.” 

Finding the spark 

Raised by her mother, who shares a passion for supporting individuals across the Bluegrass region, Price was introduced early to the challenges of food insecurity. Through her participation in school, after-school and summer feeding programs, she gained a firsthand understanding of the profound effects that hunger can have on families. This early exposure fueled her commitment to addressing food insecurity in her community. 

Growing up, Price’s family instilled in her the values of listening with empathy, resiliency and giving graciously. 

On weekends, Price and her family would spend time attending local farmers markets — personally witnessing the vital role that farmers play in feeding communities. Price served as a pantry coordinator in her own neighborhood where she was raised, fueling the importance of supporting individuals and families in her community — particularly families facing the greatest disparities. 

After completing her undergraduate studies at Centre College, majoring in sociology and anthropology, Price applied for an opportunity to serve as a Child Hunger Corps Member with Feeding America. The two-year contract allowed Price to work with the children’s program at God’s Pantry Food Bank. During this experience, Price launched Lexington’s first high school pantry at Bryan Station High School, focusing on serving high school students and giving them access to fresh, nutritious meals. 

Price’s duties included conducting community assessments, training and evaluating each of the food bank’s child and family programs. For Price, this work further demonstrated the pivotal role that everyone plays in providing one with the most basic needs: food. These full-circle moments helped shape Price, sparking a passion for serving others. 

“Looking back, everything was connected and where I found my spark,” Price said. “Helping to lead child nutrition programming at God’s Pantry Food Bank set the foundation of what I’m currently doing today, which is finding solutions for feeding more communities on the national platform.” 

Finding the power 

After earning her undergraduate degree, Price wanted to stay close to home and continue kindling her newfound spark.  

Price discovered the CLD graduate degree program at UK. The multidisciplinary program includes agricultural education, leadership and development, communications, rural sociology and more. 

Furthermore, CLD provides a practitioner perspective learning model, bringing real-world experience into the classroom and promoting experiential learning outside of the classroom. Price admired this approach, inspiring her to partner with faculty on valuable community-based outreach projects. 

“Community, leadership and development — those three words were and remain inspiring to me,” Price said. “I was able to bring my own perspective and story into this program. I found my voice and found my power for uplifting communities in this program.” 

Feeding America 

Shortly after graduating with her master’s degree in CLD, Price became a program specialist in 2017 at Feeding America, the largest hunger relief nonprofit in the nation.  

Today, Price is the director of the Food Security Equity Impact Fund. Seeded with a $20 million donation, this fund helps communities disproportionately impacted by hunger.  

“We strive to ensure that food banks across the nation have access to thrive, helping them address the root cause of hunger,” Price said. “Our goal is to cut hunger in half, particularly in communities of color. We are working on helping communities overcome other economic disadvantages of accessing food, including transportation barriers and homelessness.” 

For Price, fighting food insecurity is about going beyond the data points. It’s about people, not just numbers. It’s about their stories, which makes the work meaningful. 

“In the communities, people’s stories are so inspirational,” Price said. “From these stories, we are learning that food insecurity is systemic and centering the community voice is powerful. Food insecurity is in everyone’s backyard, and we can all play a role. We cannot do it alone.” 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food insecurity as the “lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life.” The USDA recently came out with the Map the Meal Gap 2024 report, indicating that 44 million people are currently facing food insecurity in America; 20% of which are children. In Kentucky, 710,000 people are currently considered food insecure. 

Kentucky roots 

Price and her team are partnering with 35 food banks and 75 community-based organizations across the nation, 90% led by people of color. As she continues to visit communities and counties impacted by food insecurity, Price remains deeply fond of her Kentucky roots and heritage. 

“My heart is rooted in Kentucky. I love Kentucky and the University of Kentucky so much,” Price said. “No matter where I go to fight for food insecurity related to policies, programs and people, my spirit remains back to the unbridled spirit of Kentucky.” 

To learn more about the Community and Leadership Development program at Martin-Gatton CAFE, visit https://cld.ca.uky.edu. 

More about Mya Price 

In conjunction with being a leader at Feeding America, Price is a member of the Food Policy Council Committee for Washington, D.C., a Farm Foundation Agricultural Scholar and associate board member at Hunger Free America.  

Price has presented at several conferences, including the Kentucky Local Food Systems Summit 2024, Sustainable Agriculture Summit, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Conference (FNCE) and Annual Nutrition Diversity Conference. 

Price is also a freelance writer and author, currently working on two books. One is a children’s book, and the other is about food insecurity related to Black farmers in America. Her freelance work includes writing for Civil Eats, op-eds addressing food insecurity faced by Black seniors.  

Price also recently received her doctorate in urban leadership and entrepreneurship with a focus on agriculture and sustainability, from the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. 

Price continues to showcase her Kentucky roots, diverse expertise and understanding of the food insecurity experience toward combating hunger across the country.