A church in St. Paul, Minn., distributed food obtained through a USDA program in December 2020.
Michael Siluk/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Congregations can help bridge gaps left by government programs, especially for many immigrants and others who are not eligible for SNAP benefits.
Buying enough groceries with government benefits is getting easier.
Katrina Wittkamp/DigitalVision via Getty Images
Long-term increases like this are unusual. So is the fact that this increased governmental generosity began with a measure approved by Congress when Republicans held majorities in both chambers.
Many Americans who lost their jobs when the coronavirus pandemic began sought donated food.
Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Food insufficiency rates rose across the board, researchers who analyzed government data found.
About 1 in 9 Americans live below the poverty level.
AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
The latest figures offer new evidence that a K-shaped recovery is following the coronavirus recession – which hit the lowest-paid workers the hardest.
When people can’t afford what they want to eat, they have to make a lot of calculations at the supermarket.
oonal/E+ via Getty Images
A scholar of nutrition opens up with a personal take on food insecurity in America.
Families found themselves in need of food assistance during the pandemic.
Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto
While the food insecurity rate held steady in 2020, the racial hunger gap increased.
Food insecurity appears to have grown in 2020 despite the decline in poverty.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Early estimates US poverty rate estimates indicate that policies intended to soften the blow of economic upheaval made a big difference.
Starting in October 2021, SNAP benefits will be 25% higher than before the pandemic due to a lasting policy change.
Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
An economist explains what it would cost to give SNAP benefits to all Americans in households earning up to about $100,000 per year – and why it would be worth it.
Eating right can be an emotional issue, as well as a question of economics.
Dejan/Getty Images
Detecting food insecurity requires more than assessing what’s in your refrigerator or measuring the distance between your home and the closest supermarket.
Many children, especially from low-income communities or communities of color, eat up to half their daily calories in school.
SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images
Expanding free lunch programs could also reduce stigma for students, lower administrative burdens for schools and create jobs for communities.
Yemeni children, who live in a hunger hot spot, wait to get food in June 2021.
Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images
For many of the children who don’t get enough to eat, the consequences could last a lifetime.
Eating well takes money – and also time, wise choices and cooking skills.
Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images
New data shows how high prices and low incomes prevent 4 in 10 people worldwide from buying enough nutritious foods for a healthy diet.
Stripped of benefits, some former prisoners are forced to rely on charity.
Chandan KhannaA/AFP via Getty Images)
Formerly incarcerated Americans face food insecurity rates double that of the general population. A 1996 law that prohibits drug felons from getting crucial benefits may be partially to blame.
Handouts from food banks are no substitute for self-sufficiency.
Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images
Indigenous people in the US have high rates of food insecurity and dietary-related health problems. Any attempts to address the problem must start with land justice, argues a scholar of Native health and food.
The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank held a distribution event at the LA county library’s headquarters on Jan. 22, 2021.
Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group via Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images
These efforts are growing due to the coronavirus pandemic. They involve partnerships with school districts, food banks and other institutions.
Prominently placing fresh produce can encourage healthier choices.
Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
Behavioral economics, long employed in grocery stores to guide customers to certain products, could be employed by food banks and pantries to encourage healthier choices.
Warm company is just as important as the meals volunteers deliver.
AP Photo/David Goldman
Personal interactions between volunteers and the older adults they assist, which paused due to pandemic concerns, are resuming.
A food bank in Alameda, California during the pandemic. Why are so many Americans struggling to get the food they need?
John G. Mabanglo/EPA
Plus, the discovery of the first known burial in Africa. Listen to episode 16 of The Conversation Weekly.
Stocking up on food can be tough when using a wheelchair, motorized scooter, walker or cane.
Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images
While long lines and food shortages are frustrating for most consumers, they can be physically and emotionally grueling for people with disabilities.
Chronic absenteeism rates fell 8 percentage points among schools in Nevada and Colorado that adopted the ‘Breakfast after the Bell’ program.
Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Chronic absenteeism is a pressing issue in high-poverty schools, but research suggests that serving students breakfast during class can help keep kids in school.