Food Insecurity Significantly Higher in 2023

With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I’m Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.

Somber numbers out of a just-released government study. New research from USDA finds that in 2022, 12.8 percent of U.S. households were food insecure at some time during the year.

What’s that mean? By definition, “food insecure” means they had difficulty providing enough food for all their members because of a lack of resources.

The prevalence of food insecurity in 2022 was statistically significantly higher than the 10.2 percent recorded in 2021 and the 10.5 percent in 2020. Very low food security is a more severe form of food insecurity, and the 2022 prevalence of very low food security was 5.1 percent, statistically significantly higher than the 3.8 percent in 2021 and the 3.9 percent in 2020.

In response, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says, “The 2022 Household Food Security in the United States report is a sobering reminder that, while the vast majority of Americans are able to affordably feed themselves and their families, too many of our neighbors struggle to put healthy food on the table.”

Across our region, food security is considered average in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. However, food insecurity is above the U.S. average in both South Carolina and Mississippi.