Food Insecurity Higher For U.S. Latino Population
Food is undoubtedly important for nutrition, but it’s also meaningful to humans in other ways. It can be nostalgic and provide important connections to our family, our pasts, our country, and to the larger world around us. September is National Hispanic Heritage Month, and in Hispanic culture, food preparation and cooking is often a family affair. It is common for multiple generations to gather and prepare large meals, and recipes and family traditions are passed down from generation to generation. September is also Hunger Awareness Month. For millions of Americans, a daily meal isn’t a choice between different dishes, it’s a choice between eating and other crucial needs, like utilities, medications, or childcare. According to the USDA, more than 38 million people, including 12 million children, in the United States are food insecure.
There is a significance in calling attention to these topics in tandem. According to Feeding America, Latinos are 2.5 times more likely to experience food insecurity than white individuals. Inequalities such as racial prejudice, language, education, and employment opportunities all contribute to the impact of food insecurity. For the Latino population, food insecurity appears to be more closely tied to the labor market and unemployment than food insecurity overall. Latino workers have been overrepresented within lower-wage service and hospitality-related roles which contributed to the unemployment rate among Latinos rising in April 2020, the highest it had ever been.
When we merge the two topics, we can explore food insecurity within our Hispanic, particularly Latin, communities and what food banks and other hunger relief organizations are doing to service these needs and encourage families to continue their traditions within the kitchen.
Over the decades, food banks have become much more than a distribution center for food, they have evolved into resource centers for all things related to hunger, like job training, health care, advocating anti-hunger legislation, etc. For example, the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina is addressing food insecurity in its Latino community by working with local partner organizations to distribute 450 meal boxes per month to families. The box menu, or items in packed in each distribution box, was developed in conjunction with Farm Labor Organizing Committee and the Association of Mexicans in North Carolina, which created a survey to find the foods most desired by the Latino community. In an interview with Food Bank News, Milagros Guzman, Benefits Outreach Coordinator at the food bank states, “We developed these partnerships, and they have upgraded us to uplifting the voices of the Latino community, versus us telling what we can offer. We’re having that conversation.” Thanks to this program, staffing bi-lingual employees, and translating their website and pantry locator into Spanish, the food bank served ~64,000 Latino people in the area in 2021.
In a 2021 Hunger Report, the Capital Area Food Bank found that more than 50% of people seeking food assistance for the first time during the pandemic were Latino, compared to just 16% before the pandemic. “Of the newly food-insecure, almost 70% work,” said Radha Muthiah, President and CEO of the D.C.-area food bank, to Food Bank News. “Most people probably had multiple jobs before the pandemic to make ends meet, and then they lost either one or two of those jobs.” Through surveys, the food bank found the two primary barriers to being able to afford food were the ability to earn a living wage and the high cost of housing. They also found that learning new skills, which would result in higher pay, was a priority for their Latino community members. Shortly after the report results, the food bank introduced a Food+ Skills Development program, which provides no-cost food to encourage attendance at skills-development classes. “With their immediate food needs met, participants can more easily make time for skills development and set longer-term career goals,” the food bank said on its website.
These are just two examples of how the 200+ food banks across the country are evolving feeding programs to be more culturally inclusive. By connecting to communities through surveys and partnerships, staffing bi-lingual people, and translating resources, they can provide foods and services that meet the needs and preserve the dignity of their clients. If you’d like to learn more about food insecurity in your community, explore Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap.
Take Action, as an organization or as an individual
- Volunteer at your local food bank or food pantry. Example of some duties include, but not limited to:
- Repacking dry goods such as beans, rice, pasta, cereal, etc.
- Packing meal kits for programs like summer feeding, backpack, culturally connected, etc.
- Fresh produce sorting
- Tending community gardens
- Donate to or fundraise for a local food bank or food pantry.
- Every $1 = 10 meals
- Charitable employee engagement activities. Partner with a group like PackHope to explore opportunities to support local hunger relief organizations.
- Birthday Celebrations
- Honoring a Loved One
- Food rescue / Reducing food waste
- Retailers partnering with local food banks on fresh produce, dairy and other perishable items
- Manufacturers reducing food waste by capturing product that would otherwise be discarded. For example, ends and pieces of peaches coming off the slicer can be canned and sold to food banks
- Off-spec retail items that food banks will purchase
- Learn and share hunger facts to spread awareness
- Root causes
- Inequalities in food access
- Food as medicine
For additional information on food banks, Feeding America, food & identity amongst Latinos, and food assistant government programs, check out these websites: