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Food Insecurity during COVID‐19

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  • Craig Gundersen
  • Monica Hake
  • Adam Dewey
  • Emily Engelhard

Abstract

For a decade, Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap (MMG) has provided sub‐state‐level estimates of food insecurity for both the full population and for children. Along with being extensively used by food banks, it is widely used by state and local governments to help plan responses to food insecurity in their communities. In this paper, we describe the methods underpinning MMG, detail the approach Feeding America has used to make projections about the geography of food insecurity in 2020, and how food insecurity rates may have changed due to COVID‐19 since 2018. We project an increase of 17 million Americans who are food insecure in 2020 but this aggregate increase masks substantial geographic variation found in MMG.

Suggested Citation

  • Craig Gundersen & Monica Hake & Adam Dewey & Emily Engelhard, 2021. "Food Insecurity during COVID‐19," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 153-161, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:43:y:2021:i:1:p:153-161
    DOI: 10.1002/aepp.13100
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Craig Gundersen, 2021. "Are College Students More Likely to Be Food Insecure than Nonstudents of Similar Ages?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 1476-1486, December.
    2. Charles Courtemanche & Art Carden & Xilin Zhou & Murugi Ndirangu, 2019. "Do Walmart Supercenters Improve Food Security?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(2), pages 177-198, June.
    3. Brandon J. Restrepo & Matthew P. Rabbitt & Christian A. Gregory, 2021. "The Effect of Unemployment on Food Spending and Adequacy: Evidence from Coronavirus‐Induced Firm Closures," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 185-204, March.
    4. Craig Gundersen & James P Ziliak, 2018. "Food Insecurity Research in the United States: Where We Have Been and Where We Need to Go," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 40(1), pages 119-135.
    5. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Gregory, Christian A. & Singh, Anita, 2019. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2018," Economic Research Report 301167, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ibraheem M. Karaye & Nadia Koyratty & Stephanie Rogus & Lauren Clay, 2022. "Association between Food Worry and Self-Rated Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic," World, MDPI, vol. 3(4), pages 1-10, November.
    2. Haniyeh Shariatmadary & Sabine O’Hara & Rebecca Graham & Marian Stuiver, 2023. "Are Food Hubs Sustainable? An Analysis of Social and Environmental Objectives of U.S. Food Hubs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-19, January.
    3. Xavier Léveillée-Dallaire & Jasmin Raymond & Jónas Þór Snæbjörnsson & Hikari Fujii & Hubert Langevin, 2023. "Performance Assessment of Horizontal Ground Heat Exchangers under a Greenhouse in Quebec, Canada," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-24, July.
    4. Gundersen, Craig, 2021. "Viewpoint: A proposal to reconstruct the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) into a universal basic income program for food," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    5. Christina Mary Pollard & Timothy John Landrigan & Jennie Margaret Gray & Lockie McDonald & Helen Creed & Sue Booth, 2021. "Using the Food Stress Index for Emergency Food Assistance: An Australian Case Series Analysis during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Natural Disasters," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-15, June.
    6. Elena Carrillo-Álvarez & Blanca Salinas-Roca & Lluís Costa-Tutusaus & Raimon Milà-Villarroel & Nithya Shankar Krishnan, 2021. "The Measurement of Food Insecurity in High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-57, September.
    7. Dalal, Jyotirmoy, 2022. "Food donation management under supply and demand uncertainties in COVID-19: A robust optimization approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PA).
    8. Santos, Mateus Rennó & Testa, Alexander & Weiss, Douglas B. & Jackson, Dylan B., 2022. "County jail incarceration rates and food hardship in the United States," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).

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