Alarming snapshot of local hunger

Old Dominion economists find 10% of Hampton Roads residents have trouble getting enough to eat

For thousands of people in the Hampton Roads area, worry about where the next decent meal is coming from has become an unfortunate — and unhealthy — fact of life. This year’s State of the Region report from Old Dominion University economists shines a spotlight for the first time on the growing problem of “food insecurity” — a term for having to skip meals or skimp on food because of lack of money and lack of access to good quality, nutritious food. What it finds is troubling.

Looking at the greater Hampton Roads area, including a few neighboring counties in northeastern North Carolina, the ODU economists found that about 1 in 10 residents — more than 180,000 people — frequently have trouble getting enough to eat.

Roughly a third of those struggling with the lack of a reliable source of food are children.

Of the seven main Hampton Roads cities, Norfolk has the worst rate of food insecurity (13.9%) and Portsmouth has the worst rate of children with food insecurity (19.3%).

In Gates County, North Carolina, the rate among children is more than 20%.

If that sounds bad, consider this: The report draws on data from 2018. That means food insecurity was a problem well before the coronavirus pandemic hit. This year, with many people out of work, the situation is more dire.

And it can’t help that for months, most children haven’t been heading off to school, where the free breakfasts and lunches are sometimes their only regular meals. School systems and other organizations have stepped up to fill that gap, but odds are that more people are struggling with food insecurity than the report reflects.

How can it be that thousands of residents are struggling with lack of food and, sometimes, chronic hunger, while others are doing just fine?

The answer, the study shows, is complicated and involves long-term problems.

One is that some people, usually lower income and often minority, live in food deserts — areas where there’s no easily accessible place to buy fresh, nutritious food, or much of any food at affordable prices.

The food desert created in the St. Paul’s neighborhood in Norfolk when the Save A Lot closed recently is an example of an urban food desert. They exist in rural areas too, where people live far from markets that sell a variety of foods.

These food deserts are usually in areas where many people don’t have cars and can’t easily travel even a mile or so to a store. Some people live where there isn’t reliable public transportation. They are left with fast-food joints and mini-marts, which offer little in the way of fresh food and often charge higher prices. The result is an unhealthy diet that leads to more poverty.

Food deserts are just one aspect of what the ODU economists described as the effects of systemic racism — long-running discrimination against minorities in education, job opportunities, income, affordable housing, affordable credit and health care.

The heavy military presence in Hampton Roads is another factor. A recent survey by the Military Family Advisory Network found that nearly a fifth of active-duty military families in Virginia, with most of them in Hampton Roads, report food insecurity.

What can be done? The economists have some suggestions.

In the short term, we can donate to food banks and other community programs that help feed people. Continued political support for food stamps, school lunches and the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program is important.

Longer range approaches include more efforts to teach people how to manage money and make good decisions, as well as ending any stigma about needing help. Efforts to correct racial disparities in employment, education, health care, housing and other areas of life are important.

Just understanding that there are many people among us who worry about feeding themselves and their families is a start. Thanks to the ODU State of the Region report, we have that knowledge.