Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles speaks during the Bowling Green Rotary Club meeting Wednesday, June 15, 2016, at the Bowling Green Country Club. (Miranda Pederson/photo@bgdailynews.com)

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles has a plan to put a dent in the state’s hunger.

At the Kentucky Association of Conservation Districts’ annual convention Monday at the Sloan Convention Center, Quarles spoke about a Kentucky Department of Agriculture initiative that began in June and is aimed at starting “a conversation about hunger in Kentucky.”

Quarles said one in six Kentuckians and one in five schoolchildren in Kentucky regularly faces hunger.

“I find it appalling as agriculture commissioner that we come from a state that has such a vibrant and productive agricultural presence, (but) so many Kentuckians go to bed hungry at night,” he said.

In June, KDA officials started discussing how to address the hunger issue with a variety of people in the state’s food industry, Quarles said.

“We started having a conversation that involves people from the people who put the seeds in the ground to people in the restaurants cleaning out that 40 percent of food that gets thrown in the trash can every day and everyone in between about what we can do to better position our resources and provide food and … help folks get in a position where they don’t have to be dependent anymore,” he said.

Fruits and vegetables that are blemished often can’t be marketed and end up rotting in the fields or being thrown away, even though they’re no less safe or healthy than produce that ends up in stores, Quarles said.

“Let’s go ahead and harvest that, get it to our food banks and get it in the hands of those who need it (and) compensate that farmer a fair market value,” he said.

Quarles said he is interested in getting more institutions and community groups, such as churches, local charities and fast-food companies, involved with this program.

“We hope to conclude a series of regional events by the end of this year, come up with a strategic plan to approach the General Assembly with and help create a statewide strategy for better addressing hunger in Kentucky,” he said.

Tommy Roberts, supervisor of the Leslie County Conservation District, said he liked the idea and thinks it would alleviate hunger across the state.

“The farmers need to get into that,” he said. “That would actually help a lot.”

Danny Hughes, a Wayne County farmer, said he supports the commissioner’s plan to involve food growers. 

“It’s a win-win for farmers and it’s an excellent thing to feed the hungry,” he said.

Produce has to be perfect if a farmer expects to sell it, Hughes said, adding that farmers typically have to throw away blemished or misshapen fruits and vegetables that are just as good as their more ideally shaped counterparts.

“If it has a crack or whatever, you can’t sell it,” he said. “He’s talking about making that available to families instead of throwing that away.”

— Follow Daily News reporter Jackson French on Twitter @Jackson_French or visit bgdailynews.com.