US’s hunger pandemic is still getting worse

Early in the pandemic, Americans lined up for hours outside of food banks, awaiting their chance to collect groceries. Many of them had experienced food insecurity before Covid-19. Tens of millions of others were new to such assistance. Only thanks to emergency federal intervention was a serious hunger crisis averted in 2020.
As Covid drags on, their mission is becoming harder and more expensive. To ensure that the lingering effects of the coronavirus don’t lead to sparse dinner tables this winter, Congress should step up for the charities that keep Americans fed.
Food insecurity is a condition in which individuals and families lack access to enough food to live a healthy life. In 2019, 10.9% of Americans, or roughly 35 million people, fit that description at some point. Government programs like SNAP helped reduce those
numbers. So did food banks.
Even with such help, though, food insecurity persisted. When Covid and its economic disruptions hit, already vulnerable demographics found themselves in particular need. So too did the newly unemployed, those whose hours were cut substantially, and parents suddenly forced to stay home due to closed schools and daycares. The impact on food banks was dramatic: According to the charity Feeding America, the number of people needing food assistance soared to 60 million in 2020, up 50% from the previous year.
As the US faces new variants and another Covid winter, that’s a looming crisis that the government can’t ignore. Although Congress is expected to offer another $2 billion for the Emergency Food Assistance Program in 2022, America’s food banks argue that’s insufficient to address the current wave of those needing help. They’re seeking an additional $900 million to help stock their shelves and meet
sustained demand.
It’s a reasonable request, and Congress should approve it. But these emergency interventions should prompt deeper investigations into how and why food insecurity remains a chronic, decades-old problem in America — one that Covid has only made worse.
—Bloomberg