Advocates want Congress to remember that many troops who should be focused on national security at work are still struggling with food insecurity at home.
On Tuesday, officials from the non-partisan group With Honor and lawmakers from the For Country Caucus gathered near the Washington Monument to plant flags along the National Mall as a reminder of the estimated 325,000 military families currently struggling with hunger and financial hardship.
According to a 2023 study by Rand researchers, nearly 26% of active-duty service members are considered food insecure, and about 15% rely on food stamps or food banks to help support their families.
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“There are a lot of contributing factors for the military recruiting crisis, but one of them is we’re not paying junior enlisted well enough so that they can live without food stamps,” said Rye Barcott, co-founder and CEO of With Honor. “To have a strong military, we need to treat our people the right way.”