There is no evidence of unemployment and other economic indicators point to a robust economy in the Washington, DC area. The region is getting more and more expensive, though, and a recent analysis suggests problems are on the rise.
According to the Capital Area Food Bank’s 2024 Hunger Report, food insecurity rose sharply in the past year, and not everyone is benefiting from the economy’s apparent strength and improvement.
Between May 2023 and May 2024, 37% of the people living in the area were food insecure, according to the latest data. This is reflected in a “perfect storm of factors,” according to Radha Muthiah, president and CEO of the Capital Area Foodbank.
During her speech, she lamented the rising costs of living, incomes that had failed to keep up with inflation, and the shrinking (or perhaps even vanishing) government programs that had helped many families get by.
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Findings: 20% of households with annual incomes of $120,000 experienced food insecurity
Families in the middle class, according to the Capital Area Foodbank, which uses an income range of $100,000 to $150,000 as its definition, are suffering. They are experiencing “the sharpest increase in food insecurity across our region,” according to Muthiah.
Research shows that even among families with a typical income of $120,000 in the Washington, DC region, 20% are struggling to put food on the table. It’s a clear indication of how the cost of living is rising, which is “dramatically out of alignment with wages for many,” according to the research.
According to Muthiah, a family of four needs a salary of around $127,000 to cover all of their living expenses, including rent, transportation, healthcare, child care, and food.
However, there is limited financial wiggle room for families that have a change in their work status or if a pricey emergency arises.
People squeeze their food budgets, eat a little less, and consume less healthy items because “you can’t negotiate your rent, your medical expense, or your child care,” Muthiah added. “So that’s why this middle-income group is seeing a rise in food insecurity.”
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“The limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.” This is the meaning of food insecurity according to the United States Department of Agriculture, which the group used for their survey.
‘The state must intervene.’
Food insecurity is becoming increasingly common, and many of the people polled may have been food insecure for only a short while.
Capital Area Food Bank distributed 64 million meals in the region in the past fiscal year, according to Muthiah. This is more than double the amount that was provided before the epidemic.
That demand is simply too much for the nonprofit food pantry to handle, she added.
With “a really significant way,” she urged the government to intervene. “We witnessed numerous government supports that had a profound impact on people’s lives during and in the year following the pandemic’s peak.”
She said that, as not everyone is prepared to approach local NGOs for assistance, a more successful approach would have been to highlight the pandemic’s increased child tax credits, which reduced childhood poverty by substantial numbers in just one year. In the past year, over 50% of people who were eligible for food assistance did not apply for any.
It is clear to us what is necessary to achieve success and lower these figures,” Muthiah stated. To be able to offer the assistance that many of our neighbors require, we merely require a steady dedication from the federal, state, and local levels of government.
Vendor jumping “in the middle of the supermarket”
People of color are disproportionately affected by food insecurity, according to the research. Researchers in the Washington, DC area discovered that 53 percent of Black and Hispanic residents experienced food insecurity at some point.
Half of Prince George’s County, Maryland’s population was food insecure at some point, and 43 percent of Prince William County, Virginia’s citizens were in a similar situation. These counties were among the most food insecure in the region.
In contrast to the average pay growth of little under 8%, the average cost of living increase in our area over the past five years has been approximately 18%, according to Muthiah.
According to Muthiah, “the most fungible part” of a person’s budget is often their food. Due to the steep price increases compared to things found “in the middle of the grocery store,” families are becoming more selective when purchasing food items, and some are even avoiding purchasing protein, dairy, and fruit altogether.
“These are the types of belt-tightening or food budget pinching” that she described as being heard from many of her neighbors.
