USDA 2022 household food security report finds increasing struggle to afford healthy foods

30 Oct 2023 --- While the vast majority of US households, 87.2%, remains food secure, a newly released report by the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) concludes that 12.8% — 17 million US households — were food insecure in 2022, of which 5.1% or 5.1 million, had very low food security.

“The 2022 Household Food Security in the US 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,” says agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack regarding the report’s findings.

“These numbers are more than statistics. They paint a picture of just how many Americans faced the heartbreaking challenge last year of struggling to meet a basic need for themselves and their children, and the survey responses should be a wake-up call to those wanting to further roll back our anti-poverty and anti-hunger programs.”

The 2022 annual survey, part of the USDA’s Bureau of the Census, included 31,948 households, compromising a representative sample of the US civilian population of about 133 million households. One adult per household responded to the survey. 

Growing food insecurity 
The report defines food insecurity as having “consistent, dependable access to enough food for active, healthy living” and food insecurity as having “difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members because of a lack of resources.”

Food security refers to having consistent and dependable access to food for healthy living.Very low food security was defined as a “more severe range of food insecurity” and includes households in which “the food intake of some household members was reduced, and normal eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because of limited resources.” 

According to the report, the 2022 levels of food insecurity, 12.8%, were statistically significantly higher than the 10.2% (13.5 million households) and the 10.5% (13.8 million households) recorded in 2021 and 2020, respectively. 

The percentage of households facing very low food insecurity also increased, reaching 5.1% (6.8 million households) in 2022, notably higher than 3.8% (5.1 million) in 2021 and 3.9% (5.1 million) in 2020. 

Food insecurity among households with children also grew during the same time period. In 2022, 8.8% (3.3 million) of households with children were food insecure. This means that a million more households were struggling with the issue than in 2021 when 6.2% (2.3 million) households with children were found to be food insecure. In 2020, this was the case for 7.6% (2.9 million) of families with children. 

According to the paper, children are usually protected from disruptions to eating patterns and reduced food intake due to very low food security. 

However, in 2022, 1% (381,000) of households with children were recorded to be facing this struggle. In such homes, children were reported to have gone hungry, skipped a meal or not eaten for a whole day because of their parents’ inability to afford food. This number has increased from 0.7% (274,000) of households in 2021. 

Nutrition assistance programs

Of the households facing food insecurity, 55% reported that they have made use of one or more of the three most extensive US federal nutrition assistance programs: the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and the National School Lunch Program.

SNAP recently received criticism from activists, as they called for a removal of work requirements in the program, which they note is likely to further increase the number of households facing food insecurity. The US debt ceiling legislation passed earlier this year extended the program to veterans, homeless people and young adults, but also added work requirements for people aged 50 to 54 wishing to receive SPAN assistance. 

The recent discontinuation of the SNAP-affiliated COVID-19-related emergency allotments in the form of cash-like benefits was also found to have increased food insecurity in the country, according to a study by the University of Pennsylvania. 

A recent CSPI report found that SNAP-authorized dollar stores are favored by the program’s recipients, who further expressed the need for healthier food options to become available at stores of this kind. 

By Milana Nikolova