Report finds DC area has ‘staggering’ level of food insecurity
Even as the D.C. region’s economy continues to improve since the pandemic, a new report shows that residents continue to face food insecurity.
A recent report by the Capital Area Food Bank found that compounded factors rolling over from the COVID-19 pandemic have kept levels of reported food insecurity pretty consistent in the D.C. area over the past couple of years.
“Food insecurity in our region remains staggeringly high, where almost one in three people faced food insecurity in the last year,” said Radha Muthiah, president and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank.
The findings showed 32% of area residents reported food insecurity between May 2022 and April 2023. That compares to 33% last year.
The report noted “inequitable economic recovery from the pandemic; near-record levels of inflation … and the end of many novel or enhanced federal benefit programs” as the reasons from the persistently high level of food insecurity.
The food bank provided 53 million meals worth of groceries in 2022 — that’s 77% more than the same period in 2019, according to the report.
“We continue to try and advocate for government programs to be able to be the primary providers of supplemental food assistance, with us being in the supplementary role,” Muthiah told WTOP. “But we are consistently being called on to play more of a role, and therefore will rely on the generosity of our community to help us do that.”
The most affected areas in the region are in Arlington, Virginia, with 17% of the population being food insecure and Prince George’s County, Maryland, where 45% of population — “nearly one in two households” — are food insecure, according to the report.
The report found that, along socioeconomic lines, “food insecurity disproportionately impacts people of color, households with children, and those with lower educational attainment and incomes.”
Within the food insecure population, 47% of individuals were Black and 52% were Hispanic.
Muthiah said households with children are 60% more likely to be affected by food insecurity versus those without kids.
“When children are hungry, that has lifelong effects,” she said. “They’re unable to focus in school that leads to poor employment outcomes and potentially health outcomes as well.”
Some recommendations the food bank made for addressing food insecurity in the D.C. region include calling on every sector to make a contribution.
A recommendation is to create information systems in multiple languages that make access to food assistance (like banks and pantries) easier for clients, including non-English speakers, to find.
“People should know where they can go to be able to get food,” said Muthiah. “We’re certainly going to continue to ensure that we use a variety of different languages in all of our communications, and that we’re providing food that people truly want to eat, if you will, that meets their cultural and dietary patterns.”
But, she said the government plays a “big role” in addressing food insecurity too.
“Whether that’s at the federal level, ensuring that the SNAP or food stamp program continues and is strengthened and some of the barriers to access to that program are removed, all the way to what states can do and ensuring an expanding income based tax credits,” she said.
WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.