A USC study found that for families in LA County, struggling to eat is worse than ever.
“Things are even worse than they were the first year of the pandemic,” Kayla de La Haye with the USC Institute for Food System Equity, said.
De La Haye looked at food insecurity in LA County tracking numbers from March 2020 to the present.
Her study found that nearly one in three households are experiencing it now. In part, because COVID-era government subsidies have dried up.
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“People are now getting less benefits and less help with food and that's happening at the same time as inflation, cost of living going up and the cost of food going way up,” De La Haye said.
At a food pantry on Sherman Way, dozens of people were lined up waiting for boxes of free, healthy food an hour and a half before opening. The food was given out courtesy of a non-profit called Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles.
The USDA defines “food insecurity” as "When people don't have enough to eat and don't know where their next meal is coming from."
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One in four households going through this have kids, De La Haye says. And among low-income residents, food insecurity is the worst it's been in 10 years.
“Latino and Black residents in LA County have two times higher rates of food insecurity, compared to white residents,” De la Haye said.
Given a choice between missing a rent or car payment or skipping a meal, De La Haye said food is often sacrificed. Or parents will opt for fast food, which is cheaper but unhealthy.
Although bleak, the study does suggest solutions. Among them, increasing support for pop-up pantries, many are affiliated with the LA Regional Food Bank.
You can volunteer or donate so the folks who are lined up -- many of them from working families struggling to get by -- will know they won't go to bed hungry.
This is a problem we all share, not just those picking up boxes of food to survive.
In an effort to help support local food banks and provide meals to families in need throughout Southern California, NBC4 and Telemundo52’s Help for the Hungry campaign helps For more information, visit nbcla.com/helpthehungry. Donate any amount by texting H4H to 41444.
