F ood insecurity is “deepening in its severity” in the greater Washington, D.C., area in part due to the Trump Administration’s efforts to slash federal funding and employment, according to a new report.
The annual hunger report from the Capital Area Food Bank, which relies on data from nearly 4,000 residents in D.C. and the surrounding region, points to “the dramatic re-shaping of the government and its funding streams” as having “profound and widespread” economic impacts that it says are counteracting post-pandemic declines in unemployment and a strong GDP.
More than 820,000 people are facing food insecurity in the DMV area, according to the report, marking an increase of nearly 75,000 people a year since 2022. “We are back just about to where we were during the pandemic,” said LaMonika Jones, director of state initiatives at the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit that seeks to reduce hunger. “We’ve made several strides to improve food insecurity, to improve hunger, and poverty’s root causes. And in just a few short months, we’ve been able to undo all of the positive change.”…