FRAC and our network of anti-hunger partners are working tirelessly to ensure that no one goes hungry during this pandemic. But this is not enough to secure the future of the millions of Americans who are struggling against hunger.
While we await the next coronavirus relief stimulus package, it’s important to consider whether measures taken so far have reached the most vulnerable populations. The COVID-19 pandemic is one that affects all groups, but one that has impacted groups differently. With unemployment rates skyrocketing, infection rates spiking, and racism being declared a public health crisis in over 20 cities, Black communities and other marginalized racial and ethnic communities are being hit the hardest.
FRAC’s Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report released this week finds that 2.8 million children received a lunch through the Summer Nutrition Programs in July 2019, a decrease of 77,000 children from July 2018. The Summer Nutrition Programs provided lunch to only one child for every seven children who participated in free and reduced-price school lunch during the 2018–2019 regular school year.
A new analysis from Diane Schanzenbach and Northwestern University shows that 13.5 percent of older adults (60+) face food insecurity, a dramatic increase of nearly 60 percent from pre-COVID-19 levels. Food insecurity rates are especially high among Black and Hispanic older adults.
Even as we struggle with the health and economic impacts of COVID-19, our nation could face additional challenges from hurricanes that typically arise in the Atlantic Ocean during late summer and early fall. Federal action now to boost SNAP benefits and to allow for administrative flexibilities can address hardships due to potential hurricanes as well as those hardships caused by COVID-19.
