Elevated food insecurity underscores need for a Farm Bill that protects and strengthens nutrition programs.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Household Food Security Report, released Wednesday, confirms what the Greater Chicago Food Depository has been seeing for the past year – food insecurity has been rising, while households with children and households of color are among the most impacted. This sobering reality underscores the urgency with which Congress and the White House should take action to negotiate and pass legislation that strengthens federal nutrition programs.
The report states that, in 2023, 13.5 percent of US households (18 million households) experienced food insecurity, significantly higher than 12.8 percent in 2022 (17 million households), 10.2 percent recorded in 2021 (13.5 million households) and the 10.5 percent recorded in 2020 (13.8 million households). The risk of hunger is greater for households with children at 17.9 percent (6.5 million households) – statistically similar to 17.3 percent in 2022 but significantly higher than 12.5 percent in 2021. And 22.7 percent of all food insecure households included at least one older adult.
Food insecurity continues to disproportionately impact Black and Hispanic households. Nationally, 23.3 percent of Black households and 21.9 percent of Hispanic households experienced food insecurity in 2023. These disparities mirror what we see at the local level, underscoring the role racial inequity plays in hunger and its root causes.
The USDA publishes three-year averages for food insecurity at the state level. In Illinois, 12.4 percent of households experienced food insecurity between 2021-2023.
The USDA report reflects a reality the Food Depository and its local network of food pantries and meal programs have been responding to in recent years. More households across Chicago and Cook County are challenged to afford the food they need amid high prices and a too-small federal safety net.
While the earliest weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic created a sudden and unprecedented surge in food insecurity, a significant boost to federal benefit programs quickly followed. Most COVID-era investments in the safety net expired by 2022 while American households experienced the highest inflation in four decades.
The Food Depository believes that food insecurity in 2024 is trending above what the USDA reports for last year. From January through June of this year, the Food Depository’s network of food pantries and grocery programs averaged more than 200,000 household visits each month – an increase of more than 24 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
Recent estimates from Northwestern University economists point to 19 percent of Chicago Metro area households and 21 percent of households with children experiencing food insecurity – similar levels seen during the first few months of the pandemic. Local Black and Hispanic households experience food insecurity at approximately double the rate of local white households – similar trends to the USDA report. (Source: Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University provided by Dr. Diane Schanzenbach, Food Depository board member.)
Data shows that the safety net works. Benefits like Expanded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Expanded Child Tax Credit and pandemic EBT lifted millions of families out of poverty and food insecurity during 2020 and 2021. These temporary investments led to the largest one-year drop in child poverty on record, reducing levels to an all-time low of 5.2 percent. The solutions to ending hunger are in front of us.
September is Hunger Action Month; a national campaign led by Feeding America to spread awareness and engage the public in the movement to end hunger. This September, we urge Congress and the White House to take action and pass a Farm Bill that protects and strengthens federal nutrition programs, especially SNAP.
The current Farm Bill is due to expire at the end of September. The House-proposed version of the bill would cut $30 billion from SNAP in the coming years. This is unacceptable, especially when hunger is increasing, and millions of households are struggling to afford food. We need to ensure SNAP is robust and accessible.
Nonprofit anti-hunger organizations cannot end hunger alone. Last year, the Food Depository distributed a record amount of food – the equivalent of 101 million meals. But for every meal food banks provide, SNAP provides nine meals.
It is imperative that Congress and the White House deliver a strong Farm Bill designed to reduce hunger in every community across the United States.
To learn more about our advocacy efforts and get involved, visit chicagosfoodbank.org/advocacy
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