FRAC Chat

The White House National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health encourages the health care sector to “screen for food insecurity and connect people to the services they need.” A recently released report, Health Care Provider Survey Findings: Addressing Food Insecurity Among Older Adults — Health Care Provider Beliefs, Practices, and Resources, produced by FRAC in collaboration with AARP Foundation, underscores how health care providers are doing just that by screening patients for food insecurity and connecting them to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other federal nutrition programs and food resources.

The report details the findings from a survey of health care providers around the country about their beliefs and practices related to addressing food insecurity among older adults. It also highlights key recommendations for supporting health care providers in this work.

In recognition of the 33rd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it’s time to double down on realizing the act’s goal of prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life. While there has been great progress, much work remains to achieve the goal of economic security and justice for disabled people in the U.S. Ensuring that all disabled people have access to the nutrition they need to thrive is foundational to this goal. 

Improving access to and strengthening the federal nutrition programs is a key strategy to help address the alarming rates of hunger among people with disabilities. These programs are our nation’s most important, proven, and cost-effective public interventions to address food insecurity. 

The Food Research and Action Center’s (FRAC) Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report released this week finds that nearly 3 million children received a lunch through the Summer Nutrition Programs on an average day in July 2022, a decrease of almost 2.4 million children from July 2021. 

Millions of people with low incomes in the U.S. are experiencing a hunger cliff since temporary increases in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits during COVID-19 ended in early 2023. This resulted in benefits averaging a mere $6 a person a day. The impact of the end of the SNAP Emergency Allotments has been felt deeply not just by households but by grocers as well.

An all time-high of 60 percent of SNAP participants surveyed by Propel in June 2023, reported not having the household essentials they typically need. Participants reported being forced to choose between buying food or paying for rent and utility and other bills. The survey also found that Black respondents were more likely to be behind on rent and utility payments than White and Latinx respondents. 

Anti-hunger advocates can be vital players in addressing disproportionately high rates of food insecurity and economic insecurity among LGBTQIA+ individuals and families by strengthening access to federal nutrition programs and by championing the Equality Act, landmark federal legislation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.