Justice Focus: Food Insecurity in the US
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of food-insecure Americans jumped from 37 million to 54 million. The impact was felt the most in households with children. That means around 16% of people in the US lack consistent access to enough food for a healthy, active lifestyle—the most since the Great Recession in 2008. The crisis peaked in 2020, when around 1 in 4 US households were food-insecure. Food insecurity looks beyond hunger at things like cost of food, quality of food, and distance of grocery stores from where people live.
Although food insecurity is closely linked to poverty, some families live above the poverty line but still face food insecurity. Why? Due to other debilitating factors like unaffordable housing, food deserts, lack of access to affordable transportation, systemic racism, healthcare loss, and job availability/wages. This is an important issue, because poor nutrition and food insecurity has been shown to cause adverse health conditions that lead to lower life spans, more chronic disease, and an overall lower quality of life.
Who experiences food insecurity?
While anyone can ultimately be impacted by food insecurity, some groups face larger struggles and larger consequences. These include:
Religious groups with dietary restrictions (Halal, Kosher, etc)
As food costs increase due to supply chain issues and inflation, these groups are finding themselves impacted the most. Worse, many don’t qualify for government benefits based on income, and they find themselves unable to afford the same amount of food as in the past. In many cases, rising gas prices and staffing issues in public transportation companies have caused transportation breakdowns that prevent reliable access to food.
To make matters worse, there is often a stigma associated with visiting food pantries, using an EBT/food stamp card, or receiving free help. This stigma works to keep some people from accessing the limited resources available to them.
We might also note that when these specific people and populations suffer from food insecurity, we all suffer. The food insecurity causes health problems that impact people’s ability to work, ability to learn, ability to pay bills, and more.
What can be done?
Although the US has food banks and food pantries, as well as food stamp cards, any attempt to solve food insecurity is complicated. The impact of the pandemic means that individuals who don’t qualify for those government benefits because of their income or legal status are facing additional challenges, especially with rising food costs.
Food pantries can be difficult to access. They are often open during 9-5 work hours, are short on staff or volunteers, and aren’t open every day or even every week. For those living in rural areas, these food pantries can also be difficult to get to, especially with rising costs of gas. Plus, pantries can usually only serve a limited zip code or neighborhood because of funding restrictions.
These local pantries need more support and fewer restrictions on residency, income, and government IDs. In general, our local pantries need better funding to be able to be more accessible, open longer, and open more frequently to meet the rising needs of their communities.
There are also several bills currently floating around state and federal governments that address issues such as affordable access to kosher/halal food, more food security measures for college students and kids, better access to food for rural areas, and more. A quick Google search can tell you what bills are being presented to your state government about hunger and food security.
Finally, raising awareness can play a huge part in making change for folks experiencing food insecurity. Many Americans aren’t even aware that this is a problem in the US, let alone one that likely impacts or has impacted people they interact with on a daily basis (especially over the last two years). Working against the stigmas can also help encourage people to get help when they need it.
If you want one thing you can do right now, find out where your local food bank or pantry is and see how you can support them, whether through donating food, money, or volunteering!
Learn more at Feeding America and see other ways you can help.
