A Multi-Site Analysis of the Prevalence of Food Insecurity in the United States, before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Meredith T Niles; Alyssa W Beavers; Lauren A Clay; Marcelle M Dougan; Giselle A Pignotti; Stephanie Rogus; Mateja R Savoie-Roskos; Rachel E Schattman; Rachel M Zack; Francesco Acciai; Deanne Allegro; Emily H Belarmino; Farryl Bertmann; Erin Biehl; Nick Birk; Jessica Bishop-Royse; Christine Bozlak; Brianna Bradley; Barrett P Brenton; James Buszkiewicz; Brittney N Cavaliere; Young Cho; Eric M Clark; Kathryn Coakley; Jeanne Coffin-Schmitt; Sarah M Collier; Casey Coombs; Anne Dressel; Adam Drewnowski; Tom Evans; Beth J Feingold; Lauren Fiechtner; Kathryn J Fiorella; Katie Funderburk; Preety Gadhoke; Diana Gonzales-Pacheco; Amelia Greiner Safi; Sen Gu; Karla L Hanson; Amy Harley; Kaitlyn Harper; Akiko S Hosler; Alan Ismach; Anna Josephson; Linnea Laestadius; Heidi LeBlanc; Laura R Lewis; Michelle M Litton; Katie S Martin; Shadai Martin; Sarah Martinelli; John Mazzeo; Scott C Merrill; Roni Neff; Esther Nguyen; Punam Ohri-Vachaspati; Abigail Orbe; Jennifer J Otten; Sondra Parmer; Salome Pemberton; Zain Al Abdeen Qusair; Victoria Rivkina; Joelle Robinson; Chelsea M Rose; Saloumeh Sadeghzadeh; Brinda Sivaramakrishnan; Mariana Torres Arroyo; McKenna Voorhees; Kathryn Yerxa

doi:10.1093/cdn/nzab135

A Multi-Site Analysis of the Prevalence of Food Insecurity in the United States, before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Curr Dev Nutr. 2021 Nov 1;5(12):nzab135. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzab135. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Authors

Meredith T Niles¹, Alyssa W Beavers², Lauren A Clay³, Marcelle M Dougan⁴, Giselle A Pignotti⁵, Stephanie Rogus⁶, Mateja R Savoie-Roskos⁷, Rachel E Schattman⁸, Rachel M Zack⁹, Francesco Acciai¹⁰, Deanne Allegro¹¹, Emily H Belarmino¹, Farryl Bertmann¹², Erin Biehl¹³, Nick Birk⁹, Jessica Bishop-Royse¹⁴, Christine Bozlak¹⁵, Brianna Bradley¹⁶, Barrett P Brenton¹⁷, James Buszkiewicz¹⁸, Brittney N Cavaliere¹⁹, Young Cho²⁰, Eric M Clark²¹, Kathryn Coakley²², Jeanne Coffin-Schmitt²³, Sarah M Collier²⁴, Casey Coombs⁷, Anne Dressel²⁵, Adam Drewnowski¹⁸, Tom Evans²⁶, Beth J Feingold²⁷, Lauren Fiechtner²⁸, Kathryn J Fiorella²⁹, Katie Funderburk³⁰, Preety Gadhoke³¹, Diana Gonzales-Pacheco²², Amelia Greiner Safi²⁹, Sen Gu³¹, Karla L Hanson²⁹, Amy Harley²⁰, Kaitlyn Harper³², Akiko S Hosler³³, Alan Ismach²⁴, Anna Josephson³⁴, Linnea Laestadius²⁰, Heidi LeBlanc⁷, Laura R Lewis³⁵, Michelle M Litton², Katie S Martin¹⁹, Shadai Martin⁶, Sarah Martinelli¹⁰, John Mazzeo³⁶, Scott C Merrill³⁷, Roni Neff³⁸, Esther Nguyen³⁹, Punam Ohri-Vachaspati¹⁰, Abigail Orbe¹⁹, Jennifer J Otten²⁴, Sondra Parmer³⁰, Salome Pemberton⁴⁰, Zain Al Abdeen Qusair³⁶, Victoria Rivkina³⁶, Joelle Robinson⁴¹, Chelsea M Rose¹⁸, Saloumeh Sadeghzadeh⁴², Brinda Sivaramakrishnan⁴³, Mariana Torres Arroyo²⁷, McKenna Voorhees⁷, Kathryn Yerxa⁴⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT.
² Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.
³ Health Administration & Public Health Department, D'Youville College, Buffalo, NY.
⁴ Department of Public Health and Recreation, San José State University, San José, CA.
⁵ Department of Nutrition, Food Science, and Packaging, San José State University, San José, CA.
⁶ Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM.
⁷ Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, UT.
⁸ School of Food and Agriculture, University of Maine, Orono, ME.
⁹ Business and Data Analytics, The Greater Boston Food Bank, Boston, MA.
¹⁰ College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ.
¹¹ Department of Kinesiology, Auburn University at Montgomery, Montgomery, AL.
¹² Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT.
¹³ Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
¹⁴ Faculty Scholarship Collaborative, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, DePaul University, Chicago, IL.
¹⁵ Health Policy, Management, and Behavior, University at Albany- State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY.
¹⁶ Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
¹⁷ Center for Civic Engagement, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY.
¹⁸ Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
¹⁹ Institute for Hunger Research & Solutions, Connecticut Food Bank/Foodshare, Bloomfield, CT.
²⁰ Joseph J Zilber School of Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI.
²¹ Department of Plant and Soil Science, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT.
²² Department of Individual, Family, and Community Education, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.
²³ Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
²⁴ Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
²⁵ College of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI.
²⁶ School of Geography, Development and Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
²⁷ Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University at Albany- State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY.
²⁸ Department of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, MassGeneral Hospital for Children, Boston, MA.
²⁹ Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences and Master of Public Health Program, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
³⁰ Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Auburn University, Auburn, AL.
³¹ Department of Pharmacy Administration and Public Health, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John's University (at the time of study administration), Jamaica, NY.
³² Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
³³ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University at Albany- State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY.
³⁴ Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
³⁵ Community and Economic Development, Washington State University, Port Hadlock, WA.
³⁶ Master of Public Health Program, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, DePaul University, Chicago, IL.
³⁷ Department of Plant and Soil Science, Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT.
³⁸ Department of Environmental Health & Engineering, Bloomberg School of Public Health; Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
³⁹ Center for Public Health Nutrition, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
⁴⁰ Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY.
⁴¹ Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
⁴² School of Management, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY.
⁴³ Health, Business, & Professional Services, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, WA.
⁴⁴ Cooperative Extension, University of Maine, Orono, ME.

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic profoundly affected food systems including food security. Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted food security is important to provide support and identify long-term impacts and needs.

Objective: The National Food Access and COVID research Team (NFACT) was formed to assess food security over different US study sites throughout the pandemic, using common instruments and measurements. This study presents results from 18 study sites across 15 states and nationally over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A validated survey instrument was developed and implemented in whole or part through an online survey of adults across the sites throughout the first year of the pandemic, representing 22 separate surveys. Sampling methods for each study site were convenience, representative, or high-risk targeted. Food security was measured using the USDA 6-item module. Food security prevalence was analyzed using ANOVA by sampling method to assess statistically significant differences.

Results: Respondents (n = 27,168) indicate higher prevalence of food insecurity (low or very low food security) since the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with before the pandemic. In nearly all study sites, there is a higher prevalence of food insecurity among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), households with children, and those with job disruptions. The findings demonstrate lingering food insecurity, with high prevalence over time in sites with repeat cross-sectional surveys. There are no statistically significant differences between convenience and representative surveys, but a statistically higher prevalence of food insecurity among high-risk compared with convenience surveys.

Conclusions: This comprehensive study demonstrates a higher prevalence of food insecurity in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. These impacts were prevalent for certain demographic groups, and most pronounced for surveys targeting high-risk populations. Results especially document the continued high levels of food insecurity, as well as the variability in estimates due to the survey implementation method.

Keywords: COVID-19; food insecurity; food security; high-risk; survey sampling.