Cover: Food Insecurity in a Low-Income, Predominantly African American Cohort Following the COVID-19 Pandemic

Food Insecurity in a Low-Income, Predominantly African American Cohort Following the COVID-19 Pandemic

Published in: American Journal of Public Health, Volume 111, No. 3, pages 494–497 (March 2021). doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.306041

Posted on RAND.org on March 11, 2021

by Tamara Dubowitz, Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar, Wendy M. Troxel, Robin L. Beckman, Alvin Kristian Nugroho, Sameer M. Siddiqi, Jonathan H. Cantor, Matthew D. Baird, Andrea Richardson, Gerald P. Hunter, et al.

Objectives

To examine the impact of COVID-19 shutdowns on food insecurity among a predominantly African American cohort residing in low-income racially isolated neighborhoods.

Methods

Residents of 2 low-income African American food desert neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were surveyed from March 23 to May 22, 2020, drawing on a longitudinal cohort (n = 605) previously followed from 2011 to 2018. We examined longitudinal trends in food insecurity from 2011 to 2020 and compared them with national trends. We also assessed use of food assistance in our sample in 2018 versus 2020.

Results

From 2018 to 2020, food insecurity increased from 20.7% to 36.9% (t = 7.63; P < .001) after steady declines since 2011. As a result of COVID-19, the United States has experienced a 60% increase in food insecurity, whereas this sample showed a nearly 80% increase, widening a preexisting disparity. Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (52.2%) and food bank use (35.9%) did not change significantly during the early weeks of the pandemic.

Conclusions

Longitudinal data highlight profound inequities that have been exacerbated by COVID-19. Existing policies appear inadequate to address the widening gap.

Access further information on this document at American Journal of Public Health

Research conducted by

This report is part of the RAND Corporation External publication series. Many RAND studies are published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, as chapters in commercial books, or as documents published by other organizations.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.