When thinking about the United States, most people picture abundance — plentiful farms and natural resources, grocery stores shelves stocked with food. But even in a country as prosperous as ours, food insecurity affects millions of people who struggle to afford nutritious food to put on their tables.
While the causes of food insecurity vary by person, hunger affects every aspect of life, whether that’s childhood development, preventing medical issues, or just having the energy to live fully. At Food Bank of Wyoming, our food assistance programs help to ensure community members experiencing food insecurity and hunger have access to nourishing food for themselves and their families.
What is Food Insecurity?
To define “food insecurity,” let’s turn to “Food Insecurity and Hunger in the United States,” the 2006 report prepared by the Committee on National Statistics at the request of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). According to the report, the definition of food insecurity is “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.” The report’s definition of hunger is “an individual-level physiological condition that may result from food insecurity.”
How Many Americans Live in Food-Insecure Households?
Recent studies show food insecurity in the United States has increased sharply over the last decade. According to “Household Food Security in the United States in 2023,” a report by the USDA’s Economic Research Service, 13.5% of U.S. households experienced food insecurity in 2023, up from 12.8% in 2022. In 2022 and 2023, 5.1% of U.S. households were labeled as having “very low” food security, meaning household members reported “multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.”
Feeding America’s 2024 “Map the Meal Gap” report, which uses the most recent state and local data pulled from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sheds more light on this. In Wyoming, “Map the Meal Gap” revealed that:
- 1 in 5 children live with food insecurity — 56% more than the previous year
- 1 in 7 individuals live with food insecurity — 36% more than the previous year
- The price per meal increased from $3.50 to $3.90 — an 11% increase over the previous year
“People may experience food insecurity due to unanticipated life changes that impact their financial stability, like losing a job, unanticipated medical expenses, or a major family change,” said Danica Sveda, Food Bank of Wyoming’s interim executive director. “One of these unanticipated events can throw a person who is just barely getting by into a situation in which they cannot make ends meet to put nourishing food on the table.”
Causes of Food Insecurity in Wyoming
Every state has unique geographic, economic, and demographic factors that drive food insecurity in their regions. Wyoming is home to substantial rural populations, which often face limited access to grocery stores and fresh produce. Additionally, people all across Wyoming are facing rising costs for housing, utilities, transportation, and healthcare, making it harder to afford fresh food on a consistent basis.
Economic fallout from the pandemic continues to exacerbate food insecurity across the nation; notably, the end of federal support to expand the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits during the pandemic and record-high inflation that continues today.
“Families need a roof over their heads, lights and heat, and transportation to and from school, appointments, and jobs,” Sveda said. “For those aging in their homes on a fixed income, monthly expenses increase without the hope of increased monthly revenue. The culmination of these increased costs often forces people to make difficult decisions related to how they spend their money.”
And for people experiencing these hardships, Sveda said, food is usually the first essential item to be rationed.
Addressing Food Insecurity
Food Bank of Wyoming is among the many organizations, schools, nonprofits, and institutions nationwide that receive federal funding from the USDA to combat food insecurity, through programs like SNAP, Everyday Eats (the Commodity Supplemental Food Program), The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), and more.
Last year, our mission to distribute fresh, culturally responsive food to as many neighbors as possible felt more relevant than ever: In 2024, Food Bank of Wyoming saw a 25% increase in the amount of food we distributed to neighbors across the state experiencing hunger. What that looked like in practice involved distributing 12 million pounds of food — the equivalent of more than 10 million meals at an average of more than 28,000 meals daily.
We often describe the individuals and families we serve as our “neighbors” at Food Bank of Wyoming because “they are our friends, our colleagues, students at our children’s schools, people aging alongside our parents, and those with whom we do business every day,” Sveda said. You can’t “identify people experiencing hunger by how they look; they are closer to us than we often perceive.”
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