Report Finds Food Insecurity Could Rise By Up To 60% In The D.C. Region Amid The Pandemic [View all]

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Hat tip, Greater Greater Washington

Breakfast links: Food insecurity in the region is expected to get worse, a report says
By Liam Sullivan (Contributor) July 24, 2020

DCIST | JUL 23

Report Finds Food Insecurity Could Rise By Up To 60% In The D.C. Region Amid The Pandemic
Jacob Fenston

The D.C. region is one of the wealthiest in the nation, with the second-highest median income of any metro area. Still, hundreds of thousands of residents don’t consistently have enough to eat, and the coronavirus pandemic is making the problem much worse. The number of people experiencing food insecurity in D.C. and the surrounding suburbs will rise by 48 to 60%, according to a new report by the Capital Area Food Bank.

Radha Muthiah, the food bank’s president and CEO, called the projected increase “staggering.” In the next year, between 200,000 and 250,000 more people in the region could become food insecure, meaning they would lack consistent access to enough food.

“Yes, food insecurity and inequity were significant problems prior to the pandemic,” says Muthiah. “But what this report really highlights quite visually is that these gaps that we know existed before in our community have widened even further during the course of COVID and the economic downturn.”

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