Food Insecurity In Philadelphia: By The Numbers — Part 1
In Philadelphia, over 21% of residents are considered food insecure. Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number is on the rise. According to the USDA, this means over 1/5 of Philadelphians are living with a “lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.”
In reality, the suffering behind these statistics stretches far and wide. Food insecure families struggle between having to pay to put food on the table versus other basic necessities such as utilities, medication, and doctor’s visits. Whatever the decision, the outcome is far from optimal. The disrupted eating patterns and dietary intake of food-insecure families almost always result in chronic malnutrition.
For the population at large, food insecurity jumped from 10.6% to 13.8% over the pandemic, whereas for children, this number jumped from 14.6% to 20.4% in one year between 2019 and 2020. One of the main places the government intervenes to provide childhood nutrition is at school. Yet, the U.S Department of Agriculture forecasts a 40% decrease in funding for school meals in 2023, meaning that 300,000 Philadelphia students could be at risk of losing lunches.
“My first food of the day is usually after school”
The way school lunches are administered, most K-12 students are served the same meal. For many older students, skipping school lunch is common. It is undesirable and cannot compete in taste and value with the junk food they can buy after school with their food stamps.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, who administers the food stamp program for the state, suggests that difficulty finding resource information and a lack of awareness of existing resources causes food insecurity. While this may be partially true, surveys conducted in the Grays Ferry community point not to a lack of resource awareness but to the overwhelming availability and subsidization of junk food as drivers of malnutrition.
“Yesterday I used my foodstamp card at the [corner]store. I got seeds, gushers, and a cherry water ice. ”
45% of stores that accept food stamps nationwide are convenience stores whose primary inventory feature chips, soda, and other prepackaged unhealthy foods at high markups. Another 22% of food stamp retailers are so-called “combination grocers” - which really means pharmacies and drug stores that have small sections of expensive, non-perishable items. Think Walgreens, CVS, or Rite Aid.
Combined, these stores account for 67% of food stamp accepting retailers, and they do not need to have regular shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables. When these are the only stores within walking distance for low-income families that accept food stamps, it becomes clear that this federal nutritional assistance is actually acting as malnutritional assistance.
“There is nowhere in my neighborhood to buy ingredients to make a healthy, hearty dinner for my family. With or without food stamps.”
As such, malnutrition is common in neighborhoods without true grocery stores within walking distance. However, even in low-income communities with a full supermarket, Philadelphia health department data shows that children and adults still struggle to obtain the required level of nutrients, proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
With or without access to fresh ingredients, many Philadelphians do not have the time, funds, equipment, or access to ingredients to cook full meals. Pre-prepared meals are ineligible for food stamps, leaving the cheapest of takeout, paid in cash, as the most popular solution for a meal – meaning fast-food chains often become a primary source of “nutrition.”
Food insecurity is on the rise. Malnutrition, hunger, and food waste plague American cities despite programs meant to address these exact issues. Current solutions such as soup kitchens and food handouts are unsustainable and do not address the root causes of food insecurity.
However, there is hope. Community-based solutions like TCG are trying to address the root causes of food insecurity while giving community members the dignified food experience they deserve.
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK FOR PART 2!
Learn more about our journey here www.thecommunitygrocer.org/about and follow us on social media (links below).
Questions? Contact us at thecommunitygrocerfamily@gmail.com