Pandemic Leaves Many With Not Enough To Eat; Blacks, Latinos Most Affected

The Covid-19 outbreak has dealt a severe blow to Americans and a survey by the US Census Bureau has found a significant rise in the number of people who can't have enough food to eat.

Some 29 million adults (14%) said their household often didn't have enough to eat in the last seven days, according to Household Pulse Survey data collected from Dec. 9–21. This was far above the pre-pandemic rate. A survey released by the Agriculture Department had found only 3.4 percent of adults reported that their household had “not enough to eat” at some point in 2019.

On why, 84 percent of people said they “couldn’t afford to buy more food,” rather than (or in addition to) factors such as lack of transportation or safety concerns due to the pandemic.

As compared to white adults (10 percent), blacks and Latinos were twice likely to face food insecurity, at 24 percent and 21 percent, respectively. American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander or multiracial families were also twice as likely as white adults to report that their households did not get enough food, at 20 percent.

Adults in households with children were likelier to report that they didn’t get enough to eat, at 18 percent, compared to 11 percent for those without children.

According to a report by The Conversation, the situation is just as bad in Los Angeles County, home to one-quarter of California residents.

It says the crisis peaked in April when 26 percent of all households (and 39 percent of low-income households) experienced food insecurity. Though the situation got better by October, 11 percent of the county’s households and 17 percent of low-income households remained food-insecure.

The report said the crisis was mostly by poverty, job loss or health crisis caused by the pandemic. The biggest risk factors for food insecurity were having a low household income, being unemployed and being a young adult. The report says those between the ages of 18 and 30 were most at risk, while those 65 or older were the least. Being a single parent too increased the risk of food insecurity.

The pandemic also affected farming, production and distribution of food, causing price hikes. Grocery prices have increased by 3.4 percent. Besides, the eateries and food outlets have curtailed their working hours, says the report.

This hurts the health of people because food insecurity is often connected to poor nutrition and diet patterns. The report says people tend to stock up on high-calorie food with stock life rather than fresh vegetables and fruits, which are often costlier, thereby increasing the risk for diet-related diseases like heart disease and diabetes.

Stay-at-home orders also made it harder for people to help and support one another during a crisis. The pandemic also made it hard to connect with organizations that provide support. Besides, the pandemic also posed challenges for emergency food donation programs. While food banks served more people during the pandemic months, they lacked the capacity or volunteers to serve so many people.