Applying Racial Equity to U.S. Federal Nutrition Assistance Programs - Flipbook - Page 10
The Case for Racial Equity in Nutrition Programs
The goal of this report is to provide guidance on how to apply a racial equity lens to one specific aspect of hunger—nutrition.
Nutrition is a topic that is often ignored, yet the science is clear: the country cannot afford to do so. Lack of a nutrient-rich diet
disrupts children’s development8 and leads to chronic illnesses in adulthood,9 including cardiovascular disease, high blood
pressure, and diabetes.10 The damage caused by nutritional deficiencies and inadequate diets
exacerbates the impact of hunger (see glossary), particularly within communities of color
“The country
where people are affected at higher rates.
cannot afford to
ignore nutrition.”
Context
Over the last seven years, the overall U.S. food insecurity rate has fallen from 14.9 percent
to 11.8 percent.11 12 By some measures, food security rates have bounced back from the Great Recession, while in other ways,
much more work needs to be done to return to pre-recession levels of food insecurity and then improve.13 Much of the decrease
in food insecurity since the Great Recession is due to federal nutrition programs.14 15 16 Without these critical lines of defense,
food insecurity and rates of nutritional deficiencies would have been higher during the Great Recession,17 and they would also
be higher today.
Whether the national level of food insecurity is higher, lower, or similar to its “typical” level, the food insecurity rate of
people of color is consistently at least twice, and in some states up to six times,18 that of whites.
People of color (see glossary) face a multitude of barriers to nutrition and food security that must be addressed to achieve
racial equity. Many of these barriers are in large part a product of racially biased public policies (both past and present),
structures, institutions, practices, and cultural beliefs and attitudes that systematically discriminate against people of color.
Some have been in place since the arrival of European settlers in North America. 19 Many continued after the slavery era, and
many persist today. 20 The figure below shows that many factors that contribute to higher rates of food insecurity and poor
nutrition among people of color have been created by discriminatory policies and practices.
As shown, barriers to becoming food secure and attaining equitable nutritional outcomes range from the systemic racial
wealth divide, to job segregation, to living in areas of concentrated poverty (see glossary) that lack full-service groceries and
transportation options (“food deserts” and “transit deserts”). These and other barriers limit financial and geographical access (see
glossary) to healthy food options for people of color, which in turn prevents or hinders progress against hunger and poor nutrition.
23
24
Figure 1: Food Insecurity in 2017 by Race 21 and Other Characteristics 22
(most current data available) 23
19
20
21
37.1%
General
Population
7.9%
11.9%
White
Americans
All Households
African
Americans
Indigenous
Americans
Households with children
21.9%
Latino/a
Americans
20.2%
Native
Hawaiian and
Pacific Islander
data not available
15.7%
19.6%
data not available
20.9%
30.0%
23.9%
data not available
25.1% 26.1%
data not available
30.3%
11.7%
34.3%
33.3%
data not available
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Southeast
Asians
(See Appendix 30)
Female-Headed Households
NOTES: This report uses single-race data. Food insecurity rates for Indigenous households include only those who qualify for SNAP. This data does not include people
who qualify for both FDPIR and SNAP but use FDPIR, nor does it include people who qualify only for FDPIR and not for SNAP.
Food insecurity rates are not available for Southeast Asians as a group and are not reported by household type. 24 However, food insecurity by ethnicity data is available
on the aggregate level for Hmong, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodians, Thai, Burmese, Malaysians, Indonesians, and Filipinos. For a detailed chart, see Appendix 30.
22
See Appendix 24 for percentage breakdowns by household type and race, review estimations, and sources.
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APPLYING RACIAL EQUITY TO U.S. FEDERAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS: SNAP, WIC AND CHILD NUTRITION
