Three Southern states — Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas — are among the eight states nationwide with the lowest SNAP participation rates, says the Food Research and Action Center. The coronavirus pandemic “is exacerbating the already alarming rates of food insecurity in the Southern region,” said a FRAC report that recommends expansion of federal nutrition programs, such as SNAP, WIC and school meals, to meet the need.
“Many individuals in the Southern region of the country live with crushing burdens of food insecurity, poverty and limited opportunities, and the public health and economic fallout of Covid-19 are only making matters worse,” said FRAC president Luis Guardia in a statement. “Food insecurity rates are especially high among key vulnerable groups, especially groups that have been victims of long-standing discriminatory treatment or suffer disproportionately from low wages, high unemployment and inadequate public support programs.”
The portion of food-insecure households in the 11 Southern states, 12.6 percent, was above the U.S. average of 11.7 percent; six Southern states exceeded the U.S. average, said FRAC. Poverty is more common in the South, at 13.6 percent, than the national average of 11.8 percent, according to the Census Bureau. Arkansas ranked 46th, Virginia 43rd and Kentucky 42nd in the percentage of eligible people enrolled in SNAP.
FRAC recommended steps such as greater use of so-called categorical eligibility and adoption of higher gross income limits to increase food stamp enrollment. WIC participation could rise with outreach to rural residents and speedier service at WIC offices, said the report. Southern states out-perform the national average in offering school breakfast programs. School food programs could reach more students with steps such providing meals for free to all children in high-poverty neighborhoods and converting reduced-price meals to free meals, suggested FRAC.
The FRAC report, “Poverty, hunger, health and the federal nutrition programs: A profile of the Southern region,” is available here.