hunger
Grocery prices fall for second month in a row
Lower prices for meat, poultry, fish and eggs were the driving factor for a slight decline in grocery prices during August, the second month in a row that supermarket prices were down, said the monthly Consumer Price Index. Despite the decreases, food inflation ran at 4.6 percent in the past 12 months, rising far more rapidly than the overall U.S. rate of 1.3 percent.
After record-low rate in 2019, hunger more than doubles in pandemic
Nearly 4 percent of U.S. households sometimes or often did not have enough to eat in 2019, including 5 million children, according to the USDA. Although those numbers are significant, they are the lowest on record since the USDA’s Economic Research Service began tracking these statistics in 1998. But by August of this year, those numbers had more than doubled.
Pandemic paradox: As food poverty rises, so does obesity
The Covid-19 pandemic has limited trips to the grocery store, shut down neighborhood markets and generally made it harder for people struggling financially to find affordable healthy food, reports Bloomberg. As a result, more people are relying on cheaper and more easily accessible fast and ultra-processed food, driving up rates of obesity around the world.
Anti-hunger groups see promise in Biden-Harris ticket
With Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s running mate confirmed, anti-hunger advocates say the presidential ticket is well equipped to tackle an urgent concern: food insecurity. Sen. Kamala Harris has consistently pushed for bolstering the social safety net, notably calling for the 15-percent increase in SNAP benefits that experts say would significantly reduce hunger. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Food-box giveaway to run through Oct. 31, says USDA
The Farmers to Families Food Box giveaway program, the Trump administration's response to hunger during the coronavirus pandemic, will run through Oct. 31 to use up the last of its $3 billion in funds, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
School lunch count plummeted as schools closed in pandemic
Participation in the school lunch program nosedived 28 percent during the first months of the pandemic despite breakneck efforts across the nation to provide an alternative to meals in the cafeteria, said USDA data. An anti-hunger group said extension of the so-called P-EBT program and an increase in SNAP benefits were needed to treat "this child hunger crisis."
Farm, anti-hunger groups try to squeeze into $1-trillion pandemic bill
"Everything's on the table" as Congress sets to work on a new coronavirus relief bill, and most of it will end up in the wastebasket, said Senate Finance chairman Chuck Grassley. Farm groups are pressing for billions of dollars in aid to offset low commodity prices and anti-hunger activists say a temporary increase in SNAP benefits would reduce hunger and stimulate the economy.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Report: Coronavirus worsens food insecurity in the South
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.
Pandemic could increase world hunger by one fifth — UN report
The coronavirus pandemic will accelerate the five-year-old rise in world hunger and could add as many as 132 million people this year to the global tally of the hungry, an increase of 19 percent, said five UN agencies in a report on Monday. The pandemic is disrupting the food supply chain while sweeping lockdowns to control the virus are cutting off people from work, said the annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World.
Pandemic rages, but USDA’s food box program may end in eight weeks
As it announced contracts for up to $1.47 billion to carry the Farmers to Families Food Box initiative through July and August, the USDA also said the program could end on Sept. 1, or soon afterward, as funding for the food giveaway program runs out. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has highlighted the Food Box as a boon to hungry Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, while the White House opposed a temporary expansion of food-stamp benefits.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Report: Covid-19 to worsen food insecurity around globe
The worldwide fight against the coronavirus pandemic will reduce income in countries where food insecurity is already high, leading to increased demand for food aid, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in a quarterly report. "While agricultural production has been comparatively unaffected and supplies of staple foods are reported to be generally ample or stable, income losses due to the measures implemented to contain the spread of the disease and the overall economic downturn are likely to increase the severity and prevalence of food insecurity," said the Crop Prospects and Food Situation report.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
USDA offers few yardsticks for measuring its food-box program
For USDA, the most important number in its food-box giveaway program is how many boxes are donated — 18.4 million as of Friday, according to a tally on the homepage of the agency that runs the program. Officials declined to provide other details, such as the average cost of the boxes or how long the $3-billion initiative will be in operation.<strong>(No paywall)</strong
SNAP rolls rose as coronavirus spread across U.S.
Food stamp enrollment climbed by 479,000 people, or 1.3 percent, in March, in the early days of combating the novel coronavirus and the economic slowdown that accompanied it, said the USDA. Experts have said the pandemic could result in the highest SNAP participation ever, topping the record of 47.6 million during fiscal 2013 during the slow recovery from the Great Recession.</strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Survey: Unrelenting food insecurity during pandemic
One in five US households say they often or sometimes run out of food, a persistently elevated level of food insecurity as the nation faces its fourth month of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Covid Impact Survey. "Despite some public benefits in place, this is still very high," said Nick Hart, president of the Data Foundation, which launched the survey.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
House votes to double coronavirus payments to agriculture
Senate Republicans will ignore the "unserious" $3-trillion coronavirus relief bill passed along party lines by the House in favor of steps such as liability shields for employers, said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The House bill included $16.5 billion for cash payments to farmers and ranchers, double the amount in the package now awaiting approval by the White House budget office.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Perdue joins coronavirus task force
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, chosen by President Trump to oversee the reopening of meat plants, is now a member of the White House coronavirus task force, "which is focused on getting Americans back to work and allowing businesses to reopen," said the White House. The appointment was announced a few hours after Perdue and presidential adviser Ivanka Trump visited a produce warehouse in the Washington suburbs that is part of the Farmers to Families Food Box on Friday.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Two major meat processors part of USDA’s $1.2-billion Food Box program
Two of the largest meat processors in the country, Tyson Foods and Cargill Meat Solutions, are among roughly 200 "approved suppliers" for a USDA initiative to buy surplus fresh produce, dairy products and pre-cooked chicken and pork for distribution to needy Americans. The USDA said it approved $1.2 billion in contracts for the Farmers to Families Food Box program but did not list individual awards.<strong>(No paywall)</strong
UN agency warns action needed to prevent ‘food crisis’
The UN International Fund for Agricultural Development committed $40 million to support farmers and rural communities in producing food during the coronavirus pandemic. "We need to act now to stop this health crisis transforming into a food crisis," said IFAD president Gilbert Houngbo. IFAD hopes to raise an additional $200 million from UN members, foundations and the private sector. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>
War devastates agriculture in Gaza
Two-thirds of the cropland in the Gaza Strip has been damaged by shelling, razing, and vehicle traffic since armed conflict began a year ago in the territory, said two UN agencies. The escalating agricultural damage exacerbated a food shortage, said the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN Satellite Center.