Loren McCullough, 8/26/20, positiveexperience.org/blog
HOPE involves a change in mindset. For many of us, our professional training and inclinations lead us to discover risks, problems, and deficits. In this blog (the first from our new team member, Loren McCullough), we examine national data that points to severe problems with the food supply – as experienced by families. Hidden within the data, we also see evidence for hope. Family and community engagement have buffered some of these issues, creating safer environments for children living through the pandemic. These stopgap measures demonstrate resilience, but significant policy changes are needed to ensure every child a safe, stable, and equitable environment – which necessarily includes food security for themselves and their families.
As the long, hot summer of 2020 begins to fade, it’s becoming clearer than ever that the future of our country at large has been forever shifted by the coronavirus pandemic. For almost half a year, livelihoods and lifestyles have been warped by invisible hands, every system individually attempting to keep afloat.
The United States Census Bureau conducts a weekly household survey to illuminate the myriad effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Food supply and insufficiency:
Overall, it’s no secret that food service and distribution has been affected heavily in the wake of the pandemic: the leisure and hospitality sector has seen 20% increases in unemployment between February and May of this year. Along with economic impacts on American households, the Household Pulse Survey (HPS) highlights interesting trends in food sufficiency data. The survey includes data from a series of questions regarding eating habits, including how frequently the respondents’ household experienced insufficient, or “not enough,” food.
The photo used in the graphic above is from Tanaphong Toochinda on Unsplash
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