High levels of food insecurity among Black residents in D.C. area, report finds

University of Maryland’s Community Learning Garden provides students and faculty with a constant supply of fresh vegetables in an attempt to fight food insecurity on campus. (Caleb Winters/The Black Explosion)

Capital Arena Food Bank’s 2024 Hunger Report shows that 53 percent of the Black population in the Washington D.C. area’s struggles with food insecurity. 

This is a six point increase from their previous Hunger Report in 2023.

When compared to other racial groups, the report shows that African Americans hold nearly half of the D.C. area’s food insecurity at 42 percent. Hispanics hold 24 percent, Whites hold 18 percent and other populations hold 15 percent.

“I witnessed [food insecurity’s] impact through my outreach work through Solid Rock Church and First Baptist Church in Deanwood,” said freshman information science major Brian Gardner. “When we’re able to provide [the homeless] with even something as simple as a sandwich or snack bar, I can see the joy and relief on their faces.”

The report highlights trends in education, wealth building and income, revealing how they make one more susceptible to food insecurity.

This year's report says that 29 percent of college graduate students face food insecurity. This is a four percentage point increase from the last two reports.

“I haven’t felt [financial burdens] because I don’t cover any of the financial expenses that come with shopping for food,” said sophomore mechanical engineering major Abner Calleja. “However, it does cause me to think about the future and how it may affect the worries that I have.”

“Food insecurity rates in Greater Washington in 2024 follow this same, troubled pattern: people of color are still 2-3x more likely to be food insecure than white people in our region,” the report reads.

The report finds that Prince William County, Virginia and Prince George’s County, Maryland hold the most victims of food insecurity in Greater Washington.

According to the report, nearly half of the households in Prince George’s County, Maryland and Prince William County, Virginia, are food insecure. 

Overall, food insecurity in Greater Washington has increased from the previous year by 5 percent. 103,000 children living in Greater Washington are food insecure.

According to the University of Maryland, approximately 20 percent of on campus students lack access to sufficient quantities of affordable, nutritious food. 

To help combat food insecurity on campus, the university delivers much of its farm’s produce to the Food Pantry, a storage space for food made accessible for students, faculty and staff. Steady donations of canned, boxed, and bagged goods to the food pantry also contribute to the school’s fight against food insecurity.

“I get food from here weekly, once or twice. It doesn’t cover everything, but it helps,” said data science graduate student Ibrahim Ahmed.