The U.S. is one of the wealthiest nations in the
world. It ranks first based on total GDP and
seventh based on GDP per capita.
Yet when it comes to food security, America ranks
22nd among developed countries.
People are working hard every day in this country
to bring food home for theirselves and their
families. But right now, in the United States, we
are facing a hunger crisis.
33.8 million Americans didn't have adequate
access to food, according to the latest report from
the USDA. That's 13.5 million or 10.2% of all
U.S. households in 2021.
I literally stand on Second Avenue at 4:00 in
the morning. I'd get off the subway and go around
behind the restaurants and wait for the bakeries
to deliver bread.
When you're that hungry to steal bread from the
restaurants behind the stores, you're hungry.
Spending on food assistance programs has
grown exponentially, reaching a record of
$182.5 billion in 2021.
But food insecurity has only improved slightly
since 2001.
While the number of people experiencing very
low food security grew slightly during the same
period.
We see times when the economy is doing better,
it improves. But we haven't seen major
movements on the metric, I would say.
The latest research from the Bread Institute in
2014 says the U.S.
has lost almost $5.5 billion due to lost
productivity caused by hunger.
It's much less expensive to feed you than it is
many other of our societal challenges.
Let's start with food, because the impact on the
system is incredibly expensive and will live on
for generations.
So why are so many Americans still hungry and
what can be done to solve it?
Food prices soared to record heights in 2022,
pressuring households already in a pinch.
Annual food at home prices climbed by 11.4% in
2022 compared to the year prior.
Food inflation, as we've seen during the pandemic,
has gone up, driven in large part by supply chain
disruptions and shortages of food supply during the
pandemic.
Several experts point to income as the major cause
behind food insecurity in America.
Issues of affordability and equity are the two
driving forces across the United States.
You can be working, yet you still need help.
And so the wages are not carrying Americans far
enough.
The resources they have are so strange that paying
the light bill, paying for child care, gas to get
to work is trading off against food.
The financial pressure from buying food gets
higher, the less you make .
In 2021, the bottom 20% of households with the lowest
income spent 30.6% of what they made on food,
compared to just 7.6% for households in the highest
income quintile.
It's a problem that Gregory Bruce, a bow tie
maker in Harlem, experiences every day.
I have actually $0.88 in my bank account right now.
June was not a good bow tie month.
I'm not crying, but I still come here every
afternoon and get my dinner, which I don't eat
until 7:00.
The food bank is open five days a week,
generally. Saturday and Sunday, there's no food
available. And that's when it hits you.
Meanwhile, nearly a quarter of households that
include a working adult with a disability were
food insecure, compared to just 7% of households
without disabilities.
The leading predictor of food insecurity in United
States is disability status by far, especially
mental health challenges.
Socially disadvantaged individuals are the ones
most heavily impacted by food insecurity.
Take communities of color, for example.
Nearly 1 in 5 Black households and 16.2% of
Hispanic households suffered from food
insecurity in 2021, compared to just 10.2% of
non-Hispanic minority households and 7% of white
households.
Income is important, but the more important thing
is the constraints that, especially those who are
most vulnerable amongst us are facing.
If economic opportunity isn't equally shared,
which it isn't yet in our country, that means that
it's going to have the same impact on food
insecurity, and it's a problem we need to
address.
Food deserts have also been widely blamed as
another main cause of hunger.
USDA estimates that about 53.6 million people, or
17.4% of the population in the U.S.
live in areas considered low income and low access,
meaning the nearest supermarket is more than
one half mile or 10 miles away.
Food deserts are something that plague us.
It's part of the systematic failure that we
have in America.
If you don't have access to food, you are just
increasing your chances of greater food
insecurity.
But some experts argue that access isn't the
issue. A 2018 study from the National Bureau of
Economic Research concluded that exposing
low-income households to the same products and
prices as high-income households had no
meaningful effects on eating habits.
All of us in the food insecurity space know that
they're completely irrelevant. I'd much
rather have somebody have, say, a Walmart
within 1.5 miles than a poorly stocked food store
within two blocks.
In other words, it's food prices that matter, not
food access.
I think part of this is how problems compound
problems. If you are someone who's living in
poverty, has very low income, you might be
living in a neighborhood that doesn't have great
access to high quality grocery stores.
So they are a little bit mutually reinforcing.
But to me it is the economics and the income
are the biggest drivers.
Food insecurity is an expensive burden to the
U.S. economy as a whole.
Food security should be a business imperative.
It relates to productivity. It relates
to a team that can come in every day and work and
create a product.
If your workers are hungry, they're going to
struggle with work.
The latest research from the Bread Institute says
the U.S. has lost over $5 billion due to lost
productivity caused by hunger as of 2014.
If a child is hungry, you cannot teach them.
It's not going to happen.
And if that brain doesn't develop properly, then
there is going to be all kinds of societal problems
carried on for generations.
Bread Institute also estimates the cost of
special education caused by hunger to be over $5.9
billion in 2014, while nearly $13 billion are
lost due to dropouts attributed to food
insecurity in the United States that same year.
It frustrates me that our political system and
politicians don't grab something so easy.
It's much less expensive to feed you than it is
many other of our societal challenges.
Let's start with food, because the impact on the
system is incredibly expensive and again, will
live on for generations.
The latest data from Feeding America estimates
that food insecurity costs the U.S.
$52.9 billion in health-care costs back in
2016.
There's so many negative health consequences
associated with food insecurity.
A 2022 analysis from the American Action Forum
estimates that just four nutrition related chronic
diseases among 18 to 64 year olds cost the U.S.
$16 trillion between 2011 and 2020.
When you are hungry, your body takes your body away.
You are consumed by your inner self.
Your brain doesn't function right.
You don't think well.
Everything goes wrong.
And if you're a senior citizen, especially if you
have some problems with walking or you've got some
kind of intrinsic ailment or something like that,
that's going to get exacerbated beyond
control.
Food insecurity is absolutely a solvable
problem.
In a wealthy country like ours, that people are not
having enough food. This is a solvable problem.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture budgeted $163
billion for major nutrition assistance
programs in 2022.
Among them, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program, or SNAP, is the largest domestic food
assistance programs for low-income Americans.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimate
that SNAP reduces the overall prevalence of food
insecurity by as much as 30%.
SNAP or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program is what we have called food stamps for
many years. This electronic benefit is
available to Americans that qualify based on
their household size and their income.
You give individuals an EBT card which allows
people to shop alongside their neighbors and
friends in their local food stores.
SNAP is an amazing, amazing program.
It sets out to alleviate food insecurity and study
after study has demonstrated that it does.
But despite its effectiveness, many are
falling through the cracks. SNAP eligibility
is based on the poverty threshold, but the Union
of Concerned Scientists estimate that almost 1 in
5 households with incomes between 130% and 185% of
the poverty threshold do not qualify for SNAP, even
though they are considered food insecure.
We have heard concerns that SNAP isn't available
to enough families in need.
It is a program that is highly targeted to very
low-income families, and Congress sets the
eligibility criteria for SNAP, and they certainly
have the opportunity to review those rules and
take a look at whether the program could be
expanded.
A major complaint concerning SNAP also
revolved around its amount.
In 2021, 1 in 3 households that received
SNAP still had to visit the food pantry due to a
lack of budget.
6 out of 10 SNAP recipients also reported
that food prices prevented them from buying
nutritious food.
That was until a big change was made the same
year.
The Thrifty Food Plan was increased by 20%, which
means everybody's across the board, SNAP benefits
increased by 20%.
I mean, that was a big, big deal.
So in other words, yes, I think SNAP benefits should
be somewhat higher.
But on the other hand, a 20% increase in benefits
is great. I think we should increase them
further. 20% is great, though, and I don't want
to, I never want that to be diminished.
So we're really pleased with the benefit that the
program offers. We'll be able to do that
reevaluation every five years under federal law.
And we'll keep looking at whether the program is
accomplishing its goal, which is supporting
families with enough money to purchase a very
basic but healthy diet.
Aside from increasing SNAP, advocates suggest
additional programs that focus on feeding the most
vulnerable.
America doesn't seem to like us or think about us
in the way that they think about other things.
You know, this is not political. This is far
beyond politics.
We need to feed our elders. They've served.
We need to feed our veterans. They have
served. We can start with some simple things.
We just need to feed children. We need to make
sure there is good food in every school, every
public school in the United States.
Big task. But it would make a huge difference.
In 2022, the Biden-Harris administration pledged
more than $8 billion to end hunger by 2030.
We can do this, end hunger in this country by the
year 2030 and lower the toll.
Lower the toll that diet-related diseases
takes on for too many Americans.
This goal is within our reach.
Ultimately, the key to ending hunger lies in
solving the core issues that cause Americans to
struggle in the first place.
At the White House Conference on Hunger,
Nutrition and Health, the president called for an
all of government, all of society approach.
I think what's really different and special is,
in addition to saying we need to strengthen our
federal nutrition programs to tackle hunger,
the president is also saying we need
investments, again, further upstream in the
problem, whether it's better wages, affordable
child care, affordable housing, investments or
refundable tax credits.
Investments in those places will result in
fewer people needing food assistance.
And think it's really core to our approach in
addressing hunger.
I can assure you there is enough food in America.
I can assure you there's enough money in America.
The challenge is connecting those and
ensuring that people have enough money to get enough
food.