Food/Financial Insecurity in Boston

Those looking to understand the state of food security in the Greater Boston Area have a wealth of data available to them: The Greater Boston Food Bank conducts a detailed demographic survey every four years. Probably the most important finding from the 2008 survey is the overall numbers:

"394,300 unduplicated people receive food that was distributed to GBFB member agencies. This is a 23% increase from 2005 which is a consistent trend in what the hunger relief network has been seeing in the past four years and, in particular in the past 16 months with the worst economic recession experience in the US since the Great Depression. 74,300 unduplicated people are served on a weekly basis (a decrease of 11% from 2005)."

As they note in their summary, "This means that a little more than 8 percent of the eastern Massachusetts population uses a food pantry, soup kitchen or shelter," at some point during the year.

Assuming that someone with food insecurity is as likely to seek help from a GBFB institution in 2009 as in 2005, that would imply that fewer people are suffering chronic food insecurity, but more are suffering from intermittent food security. And that last number may be deceptively low, since GBFB institutions have on average lowered the amount of service-hours they provide since 2005. That means those with intermittent food insecurity in 2009 were a bit more likely to miss being counted in the weekly numbers for GBFB on any given week.

Of those living at or below the poverty line in 2009, "85%... are reached through programs receiving food from GBFB," compared to 75% in 2005. That could mean better coverage of services for those in need, or that those below the poverty line are more likely to be experiencing food insecurity, or both.

A few interesting bits from the demographic data: Of those getting food aid 90% are US citizens (down from 94%, but it's worth noting that despite Boston-area municipalities' intentionally permissive policies with regard to immigration enforcement, undoc**ented immigrants don't make a large portion of those seeking food aid), 27% are homeless (up from 16%, but still the image of soup kitchens as "for the homeless" is inaccurate), 42% have high school degrees, 14% have college degrees, 25% are employed.

It's worth noting that many (probably most) instances of food insecurity are really instances of financial insecurity. Of GBFB clients, "44% had to choose between food and heat, 34% had to choose between food and rent, [and] 37% had to choose between food and medical care." There may be some instances where there really is no food to be found (disruptions of food production in truly inaccessible areas, war or the like making distribution physically impossible), but for the most part it's just that people lack the money to pay for food (along with everything else that they need).

(Half of the US Government's military budget could end world hunger and then some without breaking a sweat. If half of the millionaires in the world collaborated, they could do the same (about 9M world millionaires, 4.5M times about $13k/yr. each is the $60B needed, $13k/yr. is pocket change for a millionaire).

Makes me wonder about the relative merits of socially-motivated food distribution systems (food banks and the like) versus financial assistance (food stamps and the like) which piggy-backs off of the existing mainstream food distribution system. Of course, that system also has its own advantages and disadvantages.