The Challenge of Post-Pandemic Food Insecurity​​

According to Feeding America, in 2021, food insecurity may affect:

• 1 in 8 people--roughly 42 million, and;
• 1 in 6 children--13 million.

While these numbers are down from the previous year--45 million and 15 million, respectively--they remain troubling.

A major contributing factor to the spike in food insecurity in the US since 2019--a year that saw historic lows in both poverty levels and unemployment--was the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closure of businesses.

The result of the COVID-19 pandemic was the first economic recession in the United States since the Great Recession of 2007.

Within weeks, tens of millions of people lost jobs or saw declines in hours worked.

For the week ending March 28, 2020, the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance was nearly 7 million, a record high.

The official unemployment rate for April rose to 14.7%, reflecting the largest monthly increase and the highest rate since 1948 when such data was first collected.

Before the start of the pandemic, the overall food insecurity rate had reached its lowest point since it began to be measured in the 1990s, but those improvements were being upended by the pandemic.

The Impact of the Coronavirus on Food Insecurity in 2020 & 2021