Report: 38% of RI households struggle to buy food

Food insecurity in Rhode Island has reached a new high, with nearly two of every five households in the state having difficulty affording adequate food – a higher rate than at any time during the pandemic.

This is just one of the concerning statistics cited in the Rhode Island Community Food Bank’s 2024 “Status Report on Hunger in Rhode Island,” which was released Monday.

Other major findings in the annual report include the following:

• Approximately 38% of Rhode Island households are food insecure, with higher rates among communities of color.
• Low-income Rhode Islanders miss more than 42 million meals each year.
• The Food Bank and its statewide network of member of agencies are serving a record number of people each month, with roughly 84,000 recipients.

In reporting that nearly two of every five households struggle with food insecurity, the report cites the statistical source as the RI Life Index, which was conducted in the spring of 2024 and is an initiative of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and the Brown University School of Public Health. The Food Bank report cites further information from the RI Life Index, including the fact that there are disparities in food insecurity based on race and ethnicity.

“While 33% of white households are food insecure, the rate is 47% among Black households, 55% among Latino households and 47% among all other households,” the report states. It notes that one reason more families are having trouble affording food is because other daily living costs – such as rent, utilities, transportation, childcare and health care – have continued to rise. These competing costs have “left many low-income and even moderate-income households unable to afford adequate food.”

“Low-income families in Rhode Island are in crisis, particularly in communities of color. The high cost of living robs them of their ability to purchase adequate food,” the report states in its conclusion. “They regularly run out of money, they run out of food and they miss meals.”  It notes that when families can’t afford adequate food, they miss entire meals, and in Rhode Island the annual unmet need is 42.2 million meals.

“There is an urgent need to close the meal gap,” the report states.  “The federal nutrition programs – SNAP, WIC, School Meals, and Summer EBT – were designed to prevent food insecurity and hunger. Unfortunately, these programs are less effective today because benefits have not kept up with the real cost of food.”

The Food Bank’s report asserts that Congress could increase SNAP benefits through reauthorization of the Farm Bill this year and additional benefits would help the 90,500 Rhode Island families enrolled in SNAP afford three healthy meals a day.  If Congress fails to act, the meal gap in the state will only grow larger, according to the report.

“Until we close the meal gap, thousands of Rhode Islanders will rely on the Food Bank’s network of food pantries and meal sites to feed their families each month,” the report states. “The governor and the General Assembly must maintain state funding for the Food Bank to preserve our nutrition safety net and ensure that no one in Rhode Island goes hungry.”