The Cost of Hunger in Massachusetts
The Greater Boston Food Bank recently released its fifth statewide food access report entitled “The Cost of Hunger in Massachusetts.” The report is a comprehensive overview of the state of food insecurity, outlining the various cost facets (nutritional, financial, health and social) through research, analysis, and recommendations.
The report defines food insecurity as “the experience of being unable to afford enough food to eat or worrying about where one’s next meal will come from.” In 2024, more than one in three Massachusetts households – approximately 2 million adults – reported food insecurity at some point over the past 12 months. These statistics are roughly in line with the data that Nourish Nantucket has collected on food insecurity on Nantucket. Based on our independent research, we found that at least one out of five islanders and nearly one out of two schoolchildren on Nantucket experience food insecurity.
While Nantucket may not seem a likely place for food insecurity, the report found that from 2023 to 2024, Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket counties had the highest increases in food insecurity, increasing 14% to 34% of the population experiencing food insecurity.
Households who lack food security are therefore forced to make difficult sacrifices. The report found that 89% of respondents had trouble paying for one other basic need: housing, heat, medical needs, child care, transportation, or debts/other bills. This impossible choice, forcing individuals and families to decide between essential needs, can be entirely avoided if federal and state funding continues for programs such as SNAP, WIC, school meals and food banks. These programs act as a critical safety net, preventing countless households from falling into deeper poverty and hardship. The Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program (MEFAP), which provides funding to food banks to purchase “high-quality, nutrient-dense food,” and the Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN) program, a Medicaid program, are two programs that must continue in order to serve as many people as possible. HRSN provides MassHealth members with “very low food security and certain chronic conditions” six months of support through medically tailored meals, food boxes or grocery gift cards.
Food insecurity is a pervasive issue that impacts everyone, regardless of personal experience with hunger. It’s a significant burden on the state, costing an estimated $1.3 billion annually in Medicaid healthcare spending. This report serves as a crucial call to action to address this widespread problem, which “requires a sustained, coordinated effort.”
This is where Nourish Nantucket comes in. We know what the need is, how to help feed people and how to support existing and then new food programs to ensure Nantucketers have the resources they need for themselves and their families. Read more of the GBFB report HERE and join us in ending food insecurity. Make a donation today at www.nourishnantucket.org/donate/.
