“I make $10 too much to qualify for SNAP...I live alone, have no car, and the closest grocery store is miles away.”
“I’m a single mother of three kids and I’m the only income source.”
“I have several health issues that require me to eat healthy food, such as fruits and vegetables and yogurt. These are very expensive and if I don’t have the right foods, I get sick and then I don’t eat.”
Last March, the federal government ended a COVID-era expansion of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, which provide groceries for people meeting eligibility requirements. These quotes are from applicants for fresh produce boxes from FarmboxRX, collected when the company announced a free program following the end of the emergency benefits expansion period. The applicants poignantly express some of their daily pressures.
FarmboxRX produced a report based on data from the applications, finding the following top contributors to food insecurity among participants:
Disability and disease;
Fixed Income, Including Social Security;
Age;
Single parenthood.
Regardless of their specific circumstances, many applicants said SNAP was not enough to cover the food that they needed each month. Others stated that although their income was too high for them to qualify for the SNAP program, they still struggled with access to food on a regular basis.
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle sees the impact of these challenges every day. The number of people we served increased 128% in one year. While we seek to address immediate needs through programs that serve seven North Carolina counties, the underlying issues related to hunger remain in place.
One particularly vulnerable group that was highlighted by the FarmboxRX study is individuals aged 65 and older. According to The North Carolina State Plan on Aging 2019-2023 report more than 25,000 senior adults in Wake and surrounding counties live in poverty. Households with a family member over the age of 65 are more likely to experience food insecurity due to fixed incomes or an inability to work.
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle directly addresses this challenge through the 'Grocery Bags for Seniors' program. Each month, Inter-Faith Food shuttle volunteers pack 2,000 grocery bags and deliver them to over 30 senior housing communities in Wake and Nash counties. These bags are carefully curated to include fresh produce, whole grains, milk, and a protein source, supplying up to eight nutritious meals that meet the dietary needs of seniors.
Even as we work to provide these meals, this report illustrates how great the need is and how it is intensified by the individual circumstances of our neighbors. Hunger is unacceptable, and we support full funding of federal nutrition programs like SNAP for all who need it.