Feeding America’s latest Map the Meal Gap report shows local data for food insecurity. This year’s report says that insecurity levels in Cambria and Somerset counties are worse than ever.
Officials from the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank are saying food insecurity rates went up during the pandemic and never came back down.
Now, they say one in eight people in the eleven counties they serve suffer from food insecurity. In African American communities, that number increases to one out of every three people.
“Economic factors are impacting everyone across the board. In addition to that, there are systemic factors that will potentially impact communities of color more drastically,” says Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank Vice President of Equity, People, & Culture, Godfrey Bethea.
These numbers are a major increase from last year’s report, which showed that one in ten people suffered from food insecurity.
To combat this change, food bank officials say they’re distributing record high numbers of food. In April 2024 alone, they say they gave out over four million pounds of food.
“That’s higher than any month during the pandemic, and even higher than our most busy seasonso the food insecurity need is growing exponentially,” says Bethea.
Officials say the increased numbers can have many causes, like pandemic benefits being taken away, rising inflation, and systemic problems like healthcare access. They say that understanding the issues that cause food insecurity is the first step towards addressing it.
Bethea says, “it’s important that we highlight and spotlight some of these factors that are really making these numbers not go in the direction that we want to as a community.”
If you’re looking to make a difference, officials say you can donate to your local food pantry or Feeding America.
ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ56axLR7y6iamqRfm7ywsIyipaydk6q%2FqsDYZqqomaKoeqq6jKWmnJmcYrCwwc2toJ6rXZ22tcDIp55mqpWYvLOwjKWcr52cqHqzsc%2Boqa1llp67pb8%3D