A report released Wednesday by the USDA showed a steady rise in food insecurity for a second consecutive year.
The national rate, according to the Household Food Security in the United States in 2023 report, has climbed to 13.5% — an increase from 12.8% from the year prior. The new rate reflects 47.4 million people experiencing food insecurity across the United States — a 3.2 million increase from 2022.
New York was among 10 states that the USDA said showed a “significant increase in food insecurity” when comparing two sets of three-year periods. The state rate of 12.3% from 2021-23 increased from 10.5% from 2018-20. Another key takeaway revealed that 58 percent of food-insecure households participated in one or more of the three largest federal nutrition assistance programs (SNAP, WIC & NSLP), which means that 42 percent of the food-insecure population did not receive support from these critical programs.
The Food, Research & Action Center (FRAC) and Feeding America (of which Foodlink is a member) both reacted to the new report with statements and advocacy for federal policies that would reverse the recent trend.
FRAC pointed to attempts by some lawmakers in Congress to roll back some of the increases to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP):
“SNAP is our nation’s first line of defense against hunger, but the benefit levels are too low. The 2021 adjustment to the Thrifty Food Plan, which is used to determine SNAP benefits, was an important step in increasing benefit levels, providing more resources to participants to purchase the food they need. Yet, despite an increase in food insecurity nationwide, rather than invest more in SNAP, several lawmakers seek to cut nearly $30 billion in SNAP benefits over 10 years by restricting future Thrifty Food Plan benefit adjustments.”
Feeding America referenced its own report that will be released next week:
“Feeding America’s Elevating Voices: Insights Report will be released on September 10 and it will show that people experiencing food insecurity want the same things we all want for ourselves—dignity; access to fresh, healthy food; improved health; and genuine opportunity for financial well-being. I know we can greatly reduce hunger in America by standing shoulder-to-shoulder with neighbors facing hunger and harnessing our collective power. We have done this before, and we can do it again. To build a food secure future for America, we must unite behind strong, common-sense policies that support families and federal nutrition programs and we must champion community organizations across the country that are working to break cycles that perpetuate hunger.”
