Currently browsing posts about: Food-security

Before getting into the statistics, let’s start with the on-the-ground reality: real people, often with small children, are too poor to feed themselves and their families properly.  For the human impact of pandemic poverty, see:

• New York Times Magazine: America at Hunger’s Edge

Prior to the pandemic, poverty and food insecurity were declining in America.

•  Census Bureau report: official poverty rate was 10.5 percent in 2019, down from 11.8 percent in 2018
• USDA Household Food Security report, 2019:  10.5 percent of American households were food insecure at least some time in 2019, down from 11.1 percent in 2018.

But now we have pandemic-induced illness, job losses, school closures, business closures.

• Food Research & Action Center report: more than one in 10 adults with children say they do not have enough to eat. The rates are double for Black and Latino households with children.
• IRI Market Research report: SNAP enrollments include 13% of American households (but this can be good for the retail food business)

The USDA won’t report on food insecurity for another year, so it’s difficult to know what’s happening right now.  USDA data on SNAP are available only through April.

Even then, early signs were alarming.

We badly need effective policies to protect people against hunger.

Additional USDA resources

• Food Security in the U.S.  Food security—access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life—is one requirement for a healthy, well-nourished population. ERS plays a leading role in Federal research on food security in U.S. households and communities.
• Food Security in the United States: This product provides information about publicly available data from national surveys that include the U.S. Food Security Survey Module. Technical information is provided to facilitate appropriate use of the data, and links are provided to access data online or to order the data files on CD-ROM.
• Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in 2019: This supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in 2019 describes food insecurity and how it is assessed.

Yesterday, I mentioned the commentary in the New York Times—Americans Are Lining Up for Food. What Is Team Trump Doing?—calling on the USDA to expand SNAP rather that transfer responsibility for food assistance to private food banks.  No matter how good they are—and many do fabulous work—volunteer charitable agencies cannot keep up with assistance demands.

SNAP can.

SNAP, as I explained recently, is the last vestige of what used to be a much stronger safety net for the poor.  It is demonstrably effective in raising families out of poverty and reducing levels of food insecurity.

SNAP’s great strength is that it is an entitlement.  We have more than 30 million people newly unemployed in the United States.  Many of them will qualify for SNAP and are entitled to program benefits.

SNAP ought to command widespread bipartisan support, but the program is instead a flashpoint for political battles.

The reality of so many Americans running out of food is an alarming reminder of the economic hardship the pandemic has inflicted. But…Republicans have balked at a long-term expansion of food stamps — a core feature of the safety net that once enjoyed broad support but is now a source of a highly partisan divide. Democrats want to raise food stamp benefits by 15 percent for the duration of the economic crisis, arguing that a similar move during the Great Recession reduced hunger and helped the economy. But Republicans have fought for years to shrink the program, saying that the earlier liberalization led to enduring caseload growth and a backdoor expansion of the welfare state…The Republican distrust of food stamps has now collided with a monumental crisis. Cars outside food banks have lined up for miles in places as different as San Antonio, Pittsburgh and Miami Beach.

Anti-hunger groups make a strong case for a 15 percent increase.  Feeding America is running ads to promote SNAP, for example, this one targeting North Dakota

In the meantime, we have relief funds..

• The Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation’s Emergency Relief Fund
• Brooklyn Service Workers Coalition
• One Fair Wage Emergency Fund
• United States Bartenders’ Guild Emergency Assistance Fund
• See: Hunter Food Policy Center’s resource guides

If history teaches us anything, it is that private charity can never replace government policy.  Now, more than ever, we need government for the people.

International

For the past few weeks I’ve been collecting reports on food security.  I’ve already posted the most recent report on worldwide trends (not good) from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Here are two more on global trends:

• Progress and Challenges in Global Food Security: USDA/ERS researchers analyze the roles of trade, agricultural productivity, safety nets, and better data and measurement in achieving achieving gains in global food security.
• The World Food Crisis: The Way Out (2017/10th Anniversary Issue).  This comes from Right to Food and Nutrition Watch and includes their reports from the last 10 years.

In an editorial triggered by the FAO report, The Lancet announces a major effort to address global food security:

In 2018, The Lancet will launch four food-related initiatives: the EAT-Lancet Commission, the LancetObesity Commission, a Series on health and agriculture, and a Series on the double burden of malnutrition. Each of these projects will reinforce a different aspect of the global call for equitable and sustainable provision of food to be a priority: recommending how policy makers approach food systems inclusive of health, cultural respect, agriculture, production, transport, trade, and retailing.

U.S. Domestic

In the meantime, food security remains a significant issue in the U.S., as indicated by this collection of recent reports, mostly from USDA:

• Food Security in the U.S.: Food security—access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life—is one requirement for a healthy, well-nourished population. ERS plays a leading role in Federal research on food security in U.S. households and communities.
• Food Security in the United States: This product provides information about publicly available data from national surveys that include the U.S. Food Security Survey Module. Technical information is provided to facilitate appropriate use of the data, and links are provided to access data on line or to order the data files on CD-ROM.
• Household Food Security in the United States in 2016: An estimated 12.3 percent of American households were food insecure at some time during the year in 2016, lacking access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all their members; essentially unchanged from 12.7 percent in 2015.
• Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in 2016:  This is the statistical supplement for USDA’s annual report on households’ access to adequate food for active, healthy living.
• Food Insecurity, Chronic Disease, and Health Among Working-Age Adults: Lower food security is associated with higher probability of 10 chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes, cancer) and is more strongly predictive of chronic illnesses than income in some cases.  In some cases, food insecurity is more closely related to chronic disease, than is income.
• Understanding the Prevalence, Severity, and Distribution of Food Insecurity in the United States  
• PBS News Hour Twitter Chat titled “What it means to be hungry in America:  ERS tweeted responses to questions from News Hour and shared links to ERS research. You can find a summary of that Twitter Chat here.
• The Effects of Energy Price Shocks on Household Food Security in Low-Income Households: This study shows that an unexpected rise in the prices of gasoline, natural gas, and electricity increases the probability of food insecurity and other food access problems, while an unexpected drop in the price of each energy source decreases the probability. Low-income households are more vulnerable to energy price shocks than households with higher incomes.  An Amber Waves magazine article was published in conjunction with this report.
• USDA’s National School Lunch Program Reduces Food Insecurity 
• Adults With Disabilities, Especially Mental Health Disabilities, Are at a Higher Risk for Food Insecurity

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has just released its annual report on food security, country-by-country.

After years of decline, the new uptick is alarming.

Why is this happening?  In a word, conflict.

• The number of conflicts is also on the rise.  Exacerbated by climate-related shocks, conflicts seriously affect food security and are a cause of much of the recent increase in food insecurity.
• Conflict is a key driver of situations of severe food crisis and recently re-emerged famines, while hunger and undernutrition are significantly worse where conflicts are prolonged and institutional capacities weak.
• Addressing food insecurity and malnutrition in conflict-affected situations cannot be “business as usual”. It requires a conflict-sensitive approach that aligns actions for immediate humanitarian assistance, long-term development and sustaining peace.

Who knew that NASA was interested in food security and agriculture?  I certainly didn’t.  But I was recently sent this request for proposals.  No, they are not looking to grow food on spaceships or Mars.

But they are looking to use space technology to

ROSES-16 Amendment 53: Release of New Program Element A.51 Food Security and Agriculture.

NASA solicits proposals to enable and advance uses of Earth observations by domestic and international organizations to benefit food security and agriculture. Global food security represents a major societal challenge for the coming decades, and NASA recognizes that space-based Earth observations can provide key information to support the functioning and resilience of food systems.

NASA encourages that proposals involve a multisectoral, transdisciplinary team of organizations as a consortium to manage a program of activities to achieve the objectives. The scope includes applications development, user characterization and engagement, innovative communications work, and impact assessments as part of the activities.

The solicitation includes two elements: International Food Security and Domestic Agriculture.  Key objectives include:

• Advance use of Earth observations for enhanced food security and improved agricultural practices, especially for humanitarian pursuits, economic progress, resilience, and sustainability;
• Increase the adoption of Earth observations applications and broaden the suite of organizations routinely using them to inform decisions and actions;
• Expand the number of applications developed, tested, and (if successful) adopted across sectors, decision types, and other meaningful factors;
• Advance understanding of effective ways – both technically and programmatically – to enable sustained applications of Earth observations;
• Enhance awareness within food security and agricultural communities of upcoming Earth observing satellite missions and encourage the community development of new applications;
• Advance impact assessment techniques quantifying the benefits of Earth observations, increasing the number of examples and case studies across sectors and decision types;
• Identify opportunities and topics for possible future investigations;
• Advance communication of the benefits of Earth science and observations.

Notices of Intent to propose are requested by February 17, 2017, and proposals are due April 7, 2017.

Information about a preproposal conference from 2:30-4:00 pm eastern time on February 24, 2017, and later a Frequently Asked Questions document, will be posted on the NSPIRES web page for A.51 Earth Science Applications: Food Security and Agriculture. 

Questions concerning this program element may be directed to Brad Doorn at Bradley.Doorn@nasa.gov with “ROSES FS & Ag Inquiry” in the subject line or by contacting him via information listed in the summary table of key information.

Wouldn’t this be fun and fascinating to work on?  I’d love to!

The USDA has issued dismal new estimates of food security in70 developing countries.  Food insecurity means different things depending on where you are.  In the United States, food insecurity means the lack of a reliable source of adequate food.  In developing countries it means consuming less than an average of 2,100 calories a day.  The number of people in developing countries who are food insecure rose by 11% from 2007 to 2008 and is expected to rise even further in 2009.  This is the result of the economic downturn which, unsurprisingly, has worse effects on the poor than the rich.   This trend is not a good one.  Food insecurity is not only bad for health; it also leads to political instability.  That is why everyone has a stake in making sure that everyone has enough to eat.  The USDA report needs to lead to action.

[Posted from Anchorage]

Since 1995, the USDA has done census surveys of the extent of food “insecurity”–the euphemism it uses for not having enough food to eat–in the U.S. population. USDA has just released the 2006 survey, which finds 10.9% of the population–including about half a million children–to be food insecure. This percentage is about the same as in previous years. About half of the food insecure population gets federal food assistance, Food Stamps, WIC, or others. What about the other half?