Food banks across the United States, already struggling with demand, are hit even harder as poverty levels rise.
Photo courtesy of Philabundance
“People who have the greatest health care needs will probably suffer a lot of harm.”
— Elizabeth Zhang
Philabundance, a Philadelphia food bank, provided 35 million meals in nine counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey last year, helping people in need gain vital access to nutritious food.
But maintaining that level of attendance is becoming more difficult. With cuts to social programs on the horizon and rising costs of essential items, low-income households are expected to face even greater challenges meeting basic needs. Philabundance’s ability to keep up with growing demand is in question, said Callie Perrone, the organization’s government affairs manager.
“We would need to more than triple our efforts to meet anticipated needs, while food banks are losing federal funding,” Perrone said. The Health of the Nation.
Last year, about 44 million Americans lived in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Poverty rates increased among older adults and African Americans, highlighting growing disparities.
The current economic slowdown has created more barriers for Americans to meet their basic needs. Across Philabundance’s service area, more people are relying on food bank support.
“They’re seeing a lot of new faces they haven’t seen before,” Perrone said. “Now people who weren’t before are experiencing difficulties.”
That crisis is poised to intensify in the coming years, fueled by recent policy decisions by the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress.
In July, Congress passed a sweeping legislative package that significantly cut funding for food assistance programs, public health insurance, and other initiatives aimed at low-income housing and community services. The cuts will have a significant impact on low-income Americans, said Kyle Ross, a policy analyst at the Center for American Progress. The Health of the Nation.
“These programs are explicitly targeted at people living in poverty,” Ross said. “And if that weren’t bad enough, the tariff policies the administration has been pursuing are extremely regressive.”
A September analysis by the center predicts that the federal budget package “will have devastating consequences on poverty” and will increase the number of people who will experience serious financial hardship.
Cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, combined with rising commodity prices and recent increases in unemployment, will make it increasingly difficult for millions of households to keep food on the table.
SNAP supports low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities by supplementing their grocery budgets and helping them purchase nutritious foods. Under the upcoming cuts, recipients may face reduced monthly benefits or lose eligibility entirely due to stricter work requirements.
Philabundance, a Philadelphia-based food bank, provided 35 million meals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey last year alone.
Photo courtesy of Philabundance
According to research, children from households that participate in SNAP have better physical and mental health. Thanks to better nutrition, children who receive SNAP have better growth outcomes, miss fewer days of school, concentrate more in class, and have fewer developmental risks, according to Lanae Hood, PhD, policy associate at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Ending SNAP or reducing benefits will force households to make cost tradeoffs. That may mean trading food quality for quantity, substituting nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables for unhealthy processed foods that are less expensive.
“We know that has really big implications, not only for physical health, but also for mental health,” Hood said. The Health of the Nation.
For seniors and people with disabilities who rely on the program, SNAP cuts could force them to make difficult decisions, such as skipping prescription medications, going without heat or air conditioning, or falling behind on rent and other essential bills.
Millions of people will lose health coverage
In addition to rising food costs, cuts to Medicare and Medicaid (along with changes to the Affordable Care Act) are expected to increase health care spending for millions of Americans.
The federal budget is projected to cause about 16 million more Americans to become uninsured by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office, on top of the 27.1 million people who are already uninsured today. Without insurance, many people will face significantly higher out-of-pocket costs for essential medical care or even avoid necessary care altogether.
However, Americans will face more than just cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. Premium tax credits for users of Marketplace insurance plans are set to expire at the end of this year. As a result, more than 20 million people could face significant increases in their insurance premiums and about 4 million could lose their health coverage entirely, according to the budget office.
Investments in public health insurance programs have significantly expanded coverage for people of color, particularly in Black and Hispanic communities, according to Elizabeth Zhang, health policy research assistant at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Those coverage improvements are now at risk of being reversed, especially for people with serious health problems.
“People who have the greatest health care needs will likely be greatly harmed by this bill and these changes because health coverage is especially important for people with chronic illnesses,” Zhang said. The Health of the Nation.
Cuts to Medicaid could also have a significant impact on rural communities, where many Americans rely on public health insurance programs due to lower incomes, large senior populations, higher private insurance costs, and fewer private coverage options.
When a large proportion of patients lose coverage, rural healthcare providers face substantial revenue losses, which could force more clinics and hospitals to close and worsen already limited access to care in these underserved areas.
“We can expect that some of the long-term impacts of this will be that fewer people will seek preventative care and more people will end up in the emergency department as a last resort…which will lead to emergency departments becoming more overwhelmed,” Zhang said.
While the rising cost of essential goods and health care will cause harm across the country, some communities may experience even greater burdens.
Low-income families of color were especially hard hit by the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic-era recession, according to an August report from the Economic Policy Institute. Families of color represent more than 60% of all economically vulnerable families with children.
Researchers predict that more Americans will be pushed into financial hardship by planned cuts to Medicaid and tax credits.
Photo by FatCamera, courtesy of iStockphoto
“Many of these families were also more likely than their wealthier peers to have a disabled parent or child within the household,” said Ismael Cid-Martinez, MPhil, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute and co-author of the report. The Health of the Nation.
Rising living costs could further push disadvantaged households into greater financial stress, Cid-Martínez said. Nearly half of American renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Black renters are disproportionately burdened with rental costs compared to other populations.
“When we look at housing insecurity… we see that more than 80% of these families are fighting against it,” he said. “The trend has been increasing since 2007. It is quite clear that this is acting as a key driver of economic insecurity.”
As federal budget provisions take effect in the coming years, many Americans—particularly older adults, rural residents, and people of color—are likely to bear some of the harshest burdens resulting from policy changes.
In Philadelphia, Perrone said food bank resources have long been stretched thin. But with all that is expected to come, organizations like Philabundance expect to face increasing pressure to meet growing needs.
“I feel discouraged, because the reality is that hunger is a political choice,” Perrone said. “Our federal government made a decision to increase hunger in our communities. It didn’t have to be this way.”
For more information, visit www.epi.org, www.census.gov and www.philabundance.org.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
