NPR

Food Insecurity In The U.S. By The Numbers

Before the pandemic, the number of families lacking consistent access to enough food had been steadily falling. Today, new estimates point to some of the worst rates of food insecurity in years.
Food Bank For New York City hosts a pop-up food pantry during Hunger Action Month at Lincoln Center on September 24, 2020.

With COVID-19 continuing to spread, and millions of Americans still out of work, one of the nation's most urgent problems has only grown worse: hunger.

In communities across the country, the lines at food pantries are stretching longer and longer, and there's no clear end in sight. Before the pandemic, the number of families experiencing food insecurity — defined as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life — had been steadily falling. But now, as economic instability and a health crisis takes over, new estimates point to some of the worst rates of food insecurity in the United States in years.

"COVID has just wreaked havoc on so many things: on public health, on economic stability and

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