MSU alum directs short film on food shortages and the resiliency of Mississippi

By Carly Pippin, Summer Intern for the College of Arts & Sciences

STARKVILLE, Miss.—James Parker—a Mississippi State University alumnus and a senior documentary and special projects producer who also is the creative supervisor of MSU Films—directed “The Hungriest State,” a four-part docuseries illuminating the struggles Mississippians face for a stable food supply while also highlighting the resiliency and commitment of community members to serve in each town.

Sources have shown that Mississippi is the “hungriest” state in the U.S., partly because of poverty. Still, Parker and his team aim to demonstrate that it is rooted in problems beyond wealth and demographics. Each episode focuses on a different town, bringing attention to the ever-present struggle for food supply, costs, access and distribution that has grown over the last several decades and surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In the first episode, “The Last Supermarket,” citizens of Clarksdale, a town located in the Mississippi Delta, share their memories of different grocery stores and their role in the community. This episode focuses on the ways in which groceries serve as community centers and gathering spaces. By 2017, Kroger was the only full-service grocery store left in Clarksdale.

With Parker’s direction, the film captures the devastation residents felt when Kroger closed in 2018 and how the cost of food increased at surrounding stores shortly after. The community members said one way they have combated this issue is through the Care Station, established in 1987, which feeds approximately 185 people daily. This number increased exponentially during the pandemic. 

“It is a true community of people that care and it is just the nature of a small town,” said Charlie Estess, retired Coahoma County extension agent for MSU and Care Station director. When asked what would happen if the Care Station could not provide food, Estess said, “It would be tough. It would be tough on a lot of people.” 

In the next three episodes, Parker displays the deep emotion, profound support and problem-solving from local community members as they handle similar issues. In the second episode, titled “The Meals on the Bus/The Shrinking Island,” residents of Starkville work together during the pandemic to provide meals to public school students. 

Parker features Carlos Kemp, an Armstrong Middle School coach, who discusses his experience riding the school bus route and delivering food five days a week to ensure children in the community had meals.

Additionally, the episode focuses on the older and more vulnerable population that could not travel for food and potentially lacked a desire to eat due to a dwindling circle of family and friends. Eudene Kerr, an elderly resident of Winona, MS is no longer able to plant and grow the food she and her husband used to plant together. She said she is no longer mobile and does not want to do it without John, her late husband.

David Buys, a State Health Specialist with MSU Extension, concludes the second episode with a call to action for community members to do a “mental survey” of the people around them who potentially need help getting access to food. 

“Maybe just think occasionally of what you can do to offer help to [aging adults]. Be mindful of that as a community member,” Buys said.

In the third episode, “The Domino Effect,” Ethan Welford of Lucedale, MS, and Pandora Redmond of Greenville, MS, take a “mental survey,” recognize a need, and begin working to better their community. Parker features Frank Adams, an associate professor of marketing at MSU, breaking down the different components of supply chains to explain how one small adverse event can create a chain reaction leading to additional problems.

Welford, a meat processor in Lucedale, sets out to help with the beef shortage in his town during the pandemic. 

“I started then realizing there was a food crisis here in Lucedale. There was an access to meat problem, and I was thinking in what ways can I make a difference in my community?” said Welford. He realizes that he is in a position to share his resources and began giving ground beef to other residents for free.

Similarly, Redmond, a registered nurse and the founder of Hearty Helpings Food Pantry, sees a need in her community and sets out to help others. She realizes that the senior members of her town are struggling to afford food and establishes a food pantry back in 2009.

“Throughout the years, I noticed that some of my senior clients did not have food, and it was a struggle. They had to choose between buying food, medication or paying their bills, and food would always be the last thing because they thought that they could get by,” Redmond said on why she began the pantry.

Parker’s final episode, “The Fisherfolk,” centers on how the MS Gulf Coast towns’ fishing industry economically benefits the state but is at risk due to “man-made and natural disasters.” In their interviews, the fishers express their fear that the new generation will not continue the work, leading to larger amounts of fish being imported and taking revenue out of the state.

Maria Tran, Commercial Fisher and shop owner, believes an increased amount of rainfall along the coast is affecting the salinity of the ocean water causing fish to stray further out to sea. 

“It is just very depressing when you go at night and catch less than 100 pounds [of shrimp]. You can go all night and barely catch enough fish to afford the food and ice,” Tran said.

While each of the fishers discuss worries and issues, Parker concludes the film series on a note of hope for the industry.  

“Man[kind] is smart. As long as we work together and develop technologies to exploit the resources around us to feed mankind ... I think we will be able to survive.” Said Benedict Posadas, Association Extension and professor based at the Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi, Ms.

Though the members of each town are aware their solutions are simply band aids for the growing issues, they continue to serve their communities by volunteering their time and personal resources. Parker and his film crew captured the true essence of being a member of the Hospitality State. The film contextualizes the extreme hardships Mississippians face every day into the larger social and political problems that go beyond money and demographics, while sharing a hopeful message of agency of the people.