Hunger in U.S., which is disproportionately rural, at highest point since 1998, first year comparable data available

According to a Washington Post analysis of new federal data, "more Americans are going hungry now than at any point during the deadly coronavirus pandemic . . . a problem created by an economic downturn that has tightened its grip on millions of Americans and compounded by government relief programs that expired or will terminate at the end of the year," the Post reports in a story rich with graphics and maps. "Experts say it is likely that there’s more hunger in the United States today than at any point since 1998, when the Census Bureau began collecting comparable data about households’ ability to get enough food."

Nearly 26 million adults, or one in eight, said they sometimes or often didn't have enough to eat in the past week. That figure rose to one in six adults among households with children, the Post reports. The pandemic, and the government's uneven response to it, has driven the nationwide spike in hunger, according to Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty Executive Director Jeremy K. Everett.

"Hunger rates spiked nationwide after shutdowns in late March closed large chunks of the U.S. economy," the Post reports. "The situation improved somewhat as businesses reopened and the benefits from a $2.2 trillion federal pandemic aid package flowed into people’s pockets, with beefed-up unemployment benefits, support for food programs and incentives for companies to keep workers on the payroll, But those effects were short-lived. The bulk of the federal aid had faded by September, and more than 12 million workers stand to lose unemployment benefits before year’s end if Congress doesn’t extend key programs."

Though the Post story focuses on Houston, rural Americans often face hunger and food insecurity at higher rates than the overall population, according to recent research from Feeding America. The research highlights several reasons for the disparity: rural areas are more likely to be in food deserts, job openings tend to be low-wage, and there are higher rates of unemployment and underemployment. Rural hunger was declining in 2019, but the pandemic spurred a turnaround. 

"Congress left for its Thanksgiving break without making any progress on a new pandemic aid deal even as food banks across the country report a crush of demand heading into the holidays," the Post reports. That goes especially for rural food banks, Kyle Swenson reports for the Post.