Food insecurity is worsening in Chicago as more than 1 in 3 households struggle to put food on the table, according to a report released Monday by the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The findings come amid federal cuts to safety net programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, along with rising costs and insufficient wages, which are forcing residents to choose between groceries and other essentials like housing and medicine, according to the report.
More context: The report found 36% of Chicago households, or about 417,000 households, lack consistent access to enough food, with families with children being at even greater risk.
Nearly half, or 47%, of households with children are struggling to put food on the table compared to 30% of households without children, the report found. “It underscores the lived experience behind the data: parents are skipping meals so their children can eat, older adults are stretching fixed incomes as rent and grocery bills rise, working families are doing everything they can and still coming up short,” Kate Maehr, executive director and CEO of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, said in a statement. The report found that while food insecurity is citywide, inequities remain stark. The South Side (51%), West Side (45%) and Southwest Side (41%) have higher rates of food insecurity than the Northwest Side (27%) and North Side (20%). The report, released in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago, is based on a June survey of 1,200 Chicago residents. View the full report here. The food bank has called for the reversal of the cuts to food and healthcare programs, or at minimum, the delay of the SNAP cost shift to states for two years, so states have time to secure the funding needed to keep basic food assistance available.
