Cronkite school of journalism at
Arizona state university.
Liam: This holiday as so many of
us are sitting down with friends
and family at tables over
stuffed with food, there are
millions of Americans who are
not nearly so fortunate.
Thanksgiving day is also a
reminder of the stark reality of
what is called food insecurity.
It is widespread in the united
States and there is no of he and
insight.
Organizations that address this
need have said they have had to
ramp up their efforts this year
and one group is called feeding
America.
In 29 they distributed 4.2
million meals.
In 2021, the number increased by
one million to 5.2 million
meals.
In 2018, some 40 million people
received some kind of food
charity assistance and last year
that number jumped to 53
million.
Earlier this week I spoke with
the chief operating officer of
feeding America Katie Fitzgerald
and we talked about what is
driving this and what more needs
to be done.
Katie Fitzgerald, great to have
you on the newshour.
Tens of millions of Americans
are technically food insecure.
What is your sense -- do the
federal numbers give a full and
accurate picture of the issue in
the U.S.?
>> Thank you, William for having
me today.
It gives us a perspective on the
issue but it does not give us a
fall understanding of what food
insecurity looks like in the
U.S.
For instance, last year we
estimate that 53 million people
accessed the charitable food
system to help make sure they
had food on the table for
themselves, for their children,
seniors, people with
disabilities.
It is 20 million more or so than
the food insecurity rate which
is really measuring whether
people on a given day if asked
that question can afford to buy
food.
A lot of folks are making sure
they have enough food by
accessing the charitable food
system.
William: It is incredibly
shocking numbers in this
country.
Can you help me with an issue
about terminology?
When we say food insecurity
versus hunger, can you delineate
the distinctions?
>> Hunger is something that we
all can relate to and the sense
that we know that feeling when
our stomach is growling, we are
uncomfortable, having trouble
focusing.
And we need to eat.
It is our physiology that tells
us we are hungry.
And we all have that feeling.
Food insecurity is a
socioeconomic situation that
people find themselves in when
they have to make economic
trade-offs and cut their food
budgets and limit the amount of
food they can procure for
themselves or their families
because they simply do not have
enough money to make ends meet,
pay their rent or mortgage and
utilities.
The things that are necessary.
There is a relationship between
the two.
We might not be able to
eradicate food insecurity fully
in this country but we can and
hunger drew a mix of private
supports and public benefits.
William: When you look at those
tens of millions of Americans
who are food insecure, what are
the principal drivers of that?
>> A complex question to be
sure.
A lot of what is driving food
insecurity is essentially a mix
of economic pressures on
American households.
The pressures of wages not
experiencing real growth for a
long time in this country until
recently before the pandemic.
Health care expenses which have
exploded over the last few
decades.
Higher education.
The mix of the economic
pressures on American households
from a wage and expense
perspective are what is really
keeping food insecurity rates
higher than what they should be
in a country where food is
plentiful and we are one of the
richest countries on the Earth.
William: That is a great irony.
When people hear the idea of
food insecurity and hunger in a
country of such plenty, it is
striking to so many of us.
When we think back to the
pandemic where so many people
were at home or out of work,
there was enormous federal
support -- school meals and
others and a lot of that aid has
dried up or gone away and that
has to be another contributing
factor.
>> We are in another perfect
storm.
We experienced the pandemic and
surge in food insecurity as a
perfect storm and I would say we
are in a new iteration of that
right now and you are right.
Many public supports put in
place in response to the sudden
shuttering of our economy and
people losing their livelihoods
overnight are going away if not
have gone away.
And inflation and food prices
are now presenting a new major
problem for people's ability to
feed themselves and their
families as I'm sure the
audience knows.
So the combination of federal
benefits being down, food prices
really pushing many more
millions of Americans into food
insecurity and the food banks
are experiencing the same price
increases.
They are getting less for their
dollar and they are less able to
purchase their way to fill the
gap.
William: I know organizations
like yours and other local food
banks saw a good uptick in
donations, financial and
tangible donations during the
pandemic.
Where does that stand now?
How is giving going in this
country?
>> People are still extremely
generous and committed to the
cause of ending hunger in the
United States so we are grateful
for those gifts but donations
are down compared to this time
last year.
And again, part of the challenge
is food banks are having to
spend more and they are getting
less food for their dollar.
What we are seeing is 70% of the
feeding America food banks have
told us they will spend more
purchasing food this year than
last year and they will get
less.
And over 40% of our food banks
are operating in a deficit
budget in order to do that so
they are dipping into the
reserves come into the funds
they raised last year to pay for
food that they need today.
We are really hoping and
encouraging people that can to
provide some support to the
feeding America network and that
they will do that.
William: That is Katie
Fitzgerald, the chief operating
officer of feeding America.
Thank you for being here today.
>> Thank you, William for having
me and bringing greater
visibility to this important
issue.