{"id":37167,"date":"2024-09-05T21:40:30","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T21:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=37167"},"modified":"2024-09-10T13:50:10","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T13:50:10","slug":"us-food-insecurity-rate-rose-to-13-5-in-2023-as-government-benefits-declined-and-food-prices-soared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/us-food-insecurity-rate-rose-to-13-5-in-2023-as-government-benefits-declined-and-food-prices-soared\/","title":{"rendered":"US food insecurity rate rose to 13.5% in 2023 as government benefits declined and food prices\u00a0soared"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Michael Long<\/a>, Oklahoma State University<\/a><\/em> and Lara Gon\u00e7alves<\/a>, Oklahoma State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CC BY-ND<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The official U.S. food insecurity<\/a> rate rose to 13.5% in 2023 from 12.8% in 2022<\/a>, according to data the U.S. Department of Agriculture released on Sept. 4, 2024. That means more than 1 in 8 Americans \u2013 about 47 million people \u2013 couldn\u2019t get enough food for themselves or their families at least some of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a significant increase from a recent low of 10.2% in 2021. Food insecurity grew in the two years that followed due to a sharp decline in government benefits, including money for groceries<\/a> from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program<\/a> and the program that pays for students to get lunch and breakfast for free at school<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Higher food prices, largely driven by rapid inflation<\/a>, also played a big role, as did elevated housing costs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are sociologists who study<\/a> food insecurity<\/a>. We\u2019re concerned about the growing scale of this problem, which can happen in many ways<\/a>, in a country where there\u2019s enough food for everyone living here \u2013 and about 40% of the food produced goes to waste<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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