2 New Reports on Hunger in The USA

1 in 10 adults are experiencing food scarcity  The Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey has measured food scarcity throughout the pandemic. What’s emerged from that data is a fuller picture of who is going hungry in the US. And while the coronavirus pandemic did not create a national hunger problem, it has exacerbated it. Learn more with these reports about who is experiencing food scarcity in America.  In December 2020, 13.7% of adults were in households experiencing food scarcity. The national rate fell to a low of 8% in April of this year but now sits at 9.7%. For comparison, food insecurity was as high as 15% during the Great Recession.     The chart above displays a percentage of households experiencing food insecurity by status. Over a third of very low food security households reported not eating for an entire day. Food deserts are one reason for food insecurity. What is a food desert? The Department of Agriculture defines them as an area where low-income people do not have easy and ample access to food retailers. This limits people’s access to affordable, nutritious food.    These deserts particularly impact urban areas. In 2019, 96% of people in a food desert lived in an urban area. That’s 51.7 million people.   Extreme food deserts are where people live more than a mile away from the nearest urban food store or more than 20 miles from the nearest rural food store. Twelve percent of Memphis, Tennessee residents live in extreme food deserts.   Six metro areas have 1% or fewer of its population living in extreme deserts: San Jose, Calif., Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, New York City, and Portland, Oregon. See more at USAFacts, including the cities most affected by food deserts and how the government increased funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aka food stamps, during the pandemic. Understanding transgender laws by state State legislators nationwide are considering bills on medical access and sports participation for transgender Americans. From overridden vetoes to a several new bills, it can be difficult to track developments. This new data story at USAFacts is here to help you understand where these laws are being proposed across the US. Lawmakers from 15 states have introduced bills to restrict medical access or procedures for transgender minors. The bills include proposals to criminalize treatments and surgeries and require parental consent for medical care.    In 2021, state legislators in 35 states introduced bills to limit participation in high school or college athletic teams based on what sex a student was assigned at birth, sometimes called  “biological sex.”   Hate crime laws in 21 states from Hawaii to Tennessee to Rhode Island, plus Washington, DC, protect victims targeted due to actual or perceived gender expression or gender identity. One last fact Over half of eligible Americans received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of June 21. Additionally, at least 150 million Americans have received two doses of the vaccine, and most Americans could be fully vaccinated by the end of the summer. For up-to-date numbers on the pandemic, visit the USAFacts coronavirus data hub. And finally... Do you want to help improve the USAFacts website? Then join the USAFacts User Experience Participant Pool. Members will partake in interviews, surveys, and other means of measuring website performance. You’ll help out USAFacts while making the website better for readers like you! If you're interested, please sign up here.