The Food Data Nerd

The food security report is out, and it's bad news: 13.5% of households were food insecure in 2023, up from 12.8% in 2022. This is what happens when you abruptly end "pandemic" supports that should have been there all along.

This means one million more food insecure households. In 2023, there were 47.4 million people in food insecure households, 3.2 million more than in 2022. That's a lot of struggling people. Food insecurity leaves scars that last a long time.

The news is especially dire for children: 19.2% lived in food insecure households in 2023, up from 18.5% in 2022 and 12.8% in 2021. That's 4.6 million more children in 2 years. Food insecurity has profound implications for children's health, development, and education.

Wonder why people are still unhappy with the "strong" economy? In 2023, there were 47.4 million people in food insecure households, 13.8 million of them children. The economy isn't Wall Street. It's the American people and their ability to meet their basic needs.

www.ers.usda.gov

What are we waiting for? We have the tools to end hunger. It's up to us to demand the political will to use them.

What Are We Waiting For? When new data come out this month on U.S.