Food insecurity intensifies
According to a January 2025 report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA,) entitled “Food Security in the U.S., Key Statistics and Graphics,” 18 million Americans in 2023 were food insecure, meaning that they were “uncertain of having or unable to acquire enough food to meet the needs of all their members because they had insufficient money or other resources for food.”
Over five million of these Americans had “very low food security,” meaning that their eating problems “were disrupted and food intake was reduced at times during the year because they had insufficient money or other resources for food.”
The statistics are even more bleak for households with children – household food insecurity affected 17.9% (6.5 million) of households with children in 2023. Many of these parents had to make the difficult decision to feed their children and not themselves.
However, even with millions of parents making these decisions, both children and adults were food insecure in 8.9% of households with children (3.2 million households.) The USDA study also showed people of color are more susceptible to food insecurity than white people.
In addition, veterans are more likely to suffer from food insecurity than Americans who did not serve in the military. According to Yale School of Medicine's Veterans Aging Cohort Study, 24% of the veterans surveyed reported being food insecure. This is almost twice as high of a percentage as the general population.
It was also found a staggering one-in-four veterans who suffered from food insecurity experienced suicidal ideation, compared to 10% of veterans who were not experiencing food insecurity.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37165670/#:~:text=Plain%20language%20summary,substantial%20increase%20in%20suicidal%20ideation.
It is unconscionable that, in our nation, anyone is suffering from food insecurity, especially children and veterans. We must act to remedy this tragedy, either through public systems or through private charity.
Given the recent cuts by the federal government to SNAP/EBT and to funding for private food banks, private individuals need to step up and feed hungry Americans, especially children and veterans, to fill the gaps that the government has created.
There is so much you can do to help, even though many reading this article may be college students on a fixed income. Call your local food bank, soup kitchen or charitable organization and ask them what they need. Some may need you to volunteer your time, some may need (even small) monetary donations, and some may need certain kinds of food. Every area presents different challenges, and every organization has different needs.
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