No one should go hungry in America
It is an astonishingly large number: 5.3 billion. That’s how many meals were distributed by the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization, Feeding America, in 2023 alone. In a country of more than 330 million people, it is evidence of how widespread and persistent food insecurity remains in the United States.
Food insecurity is defined by the Department of Agriculture as the lack of access to enough food for an active and healthy life. More than 13% of Americans — 47 million people — experienced food insecurity in 2023; the rates are even higher in Black and Latino communities. In some of the poorest regions of America, mostly rural areas in the South, food insecurity among children is as high as 48%. But it is present in every county in the country.
While lawmakers in local, state and federal government struggle to find long-term solutions, Feeding America, a network of roughly 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, is filling the void every day for tens of millions of Americans. It is one of the organizations supported by the New York Times Communities Fund.
Feeding America needs help to continue this essential frontline work. The average cost of a single meal may be only $3.99, but when that is multiplied by the millions of meals required, it adds up to $33 billion that families need and don’t have for groceries. After a temporary boost during the COVID-19 pandemic, food donations and government funding have fallen off sharply, even as the demand remains steady.
Some of that demand is a lingering effect of the inflation that peaked in 2022, but some food costs are still stubbornly high.
Another problem is that nearly half of Americans who are food insecure are unlikely to qualify for federal programs like SNAP because many have incomes that are too high to be eligible. Most families of four that receive SNAP benefits have incomes below $40,560. Feeding America estimates that that leaves 20 million people in a no man’s land, where they can neither afford sufficient food nor qualify for help to pay for it.
Racial disparities are also striking. Nationwide, roughly one-quarter of Black Americans experience food insecurity, compared with 10% of white non-Hispanic Americans, according to a report by Feeding America. In some parts of the rural South, roughly two-thirds of Black people are experiencing food insecurity.
Solving this crisis will require a host of policy responses, including expanding SNAP eligibility and the child and earned-income tax credits, improving access to school lunch programs and building more affordable housing, which would ease some of the pressure on family budgets. In the meantime, you can help by donating to Feeding America and similar organizations. No one should go hungry in the richest nation on Earth.
Learn more about the beneficiary organizations and donate at nytcommunitiesfund.org.
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