Millions of Americans Going Hungry as Pandemic Erodes Incomes

A study found the pandemic roughly doubled food insecurity in the United States

Cumru, PA - May 30: Todd Kaley, with the Shillington Lions Club carries food to a car. During a food distribution by the Wyomissing Restaurant and Bakery, Olivet Boys and Girls Club, Kuhn Funeral Homes and Shillington Lions Club, at the Gov. Mifflin Intermediate School in Cumru Saturday morning May 30, 2020 during the coronavirus / COVID-19 outbreak. People lined up in cars, but they also gave food to people who walked up. (
Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

As jobs vanish, incomes drop and food prices rise, more Americans are going to bed hungry — and advocates warn that without intervention from Congress, those numbers could rise to a level unseen in modern times.

"People who never thought they'd experience food insecurity are now seeking food assistance," said Luis Guardia, president of the nonprofit Food Research & Action Center.

A study from Northwestern University's Institute for Policy Studies found that the pandemic roughly doubled food insecurity in the United States. Food assistance nonprofit Feeding America estimates that with household finances decimated by the coronavirus, around 40 percent of people visiting food banks are first-time recipients of food assistance.

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