At the sixth annual State of Hunger, experts claimed one in four San Diegans are experiencing hunger insecurity, meaning they cannot afford three nutritious meals per day. The San Diego Hunger Coalition (SDHC) holds the event each year, sharing data on the region with people who work in the hunger relief sector.
According to their research, hunger has been rising for the past two years, after San Diego had the lowest rates ever of nutrition insecurity, dipping to 22%, in 2022 amid pandemic-era assistance programs. As those programs expired, hunger has steadily risen but is still lower than the all-time high of 34% in 2013. Whether that upward trend continues depends greatly on the renewal of the omnibus Farm Bill by the end of the year, which funds nutrition programs like SNAP/EBT. An extension of the 2018 Act is set to expire by the end of the year. The Senate is considering a new five-year act although could add another one- or two-year extension if an agreement is not reached before the legislative session ends in a few weeks.
El 2024 Annual State of Hunger Issue Brief is put together with input from the advisory committee Hunger Free San Diego, made up of local agencies. By number of meals, San Diegans are receiving the most food assistance from CalFresh, school meals, food banks then WIC.
During a panel at the State of Hunger, Bob Kamensky, the CEO of Feeding San Diego which organizes the network of food banks in the county, noted they are currently seeing higher demand than in the second week of the pandemic in 2020. SDHC’s research manager, Joseph Kendrick, said local meal distributions are overburdened. “We believe CalFresh is the best way to eliminate the meal gap.” Currently, there are 200,000 people in San Diego eligible for CalFresh benefits who are not enrolled.
In some areas, nearly half of the population faces nutrition insecurity, such as Logan Heights (48.8%) and City Heights (46.8%). According to the report, City Heights is a major area of need as it leads in both the percentage of people and total number of people who are nutrition insecure. Other neighborhoods experience higher rates of what is called a meal gap, meaning the distance between the number of meals still needed for those who are food insecure and the current assistance offered. University City, Fallbrook and Escondido make up a large portion of the 8.8 million annual meal gap.
Beyond a neighborhood analysis, the report also stated some population groups have higher rates of nutrition insecurity. In particular, disabled people have the highest rates of hunger at 38%. Of the nutrition-insecure population, 211,000 are children and 168,000 are seniors. Other underserved populations include People of Color, college students and the LGBTQ+ community who show higher rates of nutrition and food insecurity as well as lower rates of CalFresh enrollment.
At the county level, Supervisors Nora Vargas and Monica Montgomery-Steppe are creating a blueprint to address food security after community round tables and online input. A draft of the Food Justice Community Action Plan will be presented to the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday, Dec. 11.
The draft plan’s top theme is to promote collaboration between government agencies, community organizations and private interests. The State of Hunger echoed a similar sentiment, with panelists urging the audience to continue to work together to best use resources and make sure no one slips through the cracks. “There’s enough work for all of us to be heroes,” said Brent Wakefield of Meals on Wheels.
