US food insecurity increased 18 percent since January 2021
US food insecurity increased 18 percent since January 2021
Speaking Security Newsletter | Note n°226 | 22 November 2023
In January 2021, there were 23.75 million Americans who didn’t have enough to eat. Now there are 28 million, according to the latest iteration of the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.1 The US has a serious food insecurity problem.2
The Biden 2024 team is still rolling with the “Bidenomics is working” schtick, touting various stats about the country’s economic growth. It looks like the plan is to hammer home the impressive macroeconomic variables and not mention the depressing human security ones, like worsening food and financial insecurity.
Behind the scenes, Democratic Party operatives are worried about the human security numbers, expecting the president to embarrass himself when asked some version of Ronald Reagan’s “Are you better off now than you were four years ago” question from the 1980 presidential debates. I think Biden’s response to Reagan’s subsequent question could be just as humiliating: “Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago?”
The Republicans don’t have a credible solution to the ongoing human security crisis either. But right now, that’s the only party willing to acknowledge that there’s even a problem.
^Alt text for screen readers: Food insecurity is up 18 percent since January 2021. This orange line graph tracks the number of adults in the U.S. who don’t have enough to eat from January 2021 through October 2023. It starts at less than 24 million, dips, climbs, flattens, then climbs again, ultimately reaching 28 million. Data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau. More at stephensemler.substack.com.
-Stephen (@stephensemler; stephen@securityreform.org)
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Specifically, I’m referring to Household Pulse Survey periods January 6–18, 2021 through October 18–30, 2023. Figures refer to US adults only.
Here’s the full Household Pulse Survey question I used for food insecurity: In the last 7 days, which of these statements best describes the food eaten in your household? Select only one answer. 1) Enough of the kinds of food (I/we) wanted to eat 2) Enough, but not always the kinds of food (I/we) wanted to eat 3) Sometimes not enough to eat 4) Often not enough to eat.