A lingering issue before the pandemic, food insecurity continues to have a grip in Lane County, and FOOD For Lane County, a nonprofit that partners with 170 agencies and programs in Lane County to help offset hunger, is seeking to better understand the problem.
Throughout the month of April, FFLC is inviting the public to fill out a short, anonymous survey on its website (in English or Spanish), and it is encouraging Lane County residents to spread the word about the survey.
According to a study conducted by the Oregon Hunger Task Force in 2022, the state’s food insecurity rate — defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the limited or uncertain availability of nutritional foods, or the limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable food in socially acceptable ways — rose from 10.3 percent in 2019-2021 to 11.5 percent in 2022.
And the numbers are especially alarming in Lane County, according to that same report. An estimated one-in-five people experienced food insecurity in 2021. That number dipped to 13.6 percent in 2022, but it’s still above the state and national average.
In a 2021 public survey from FFLC, 19 percent of respondents said they “often” didn’t eat because there wasn’t enough money for food, and an additional 42 percent said it “sometimes” happens. Also in that survey, 17 percent said they cut the size of their children’s meals or skipped meals entirely because of lack of money for food.
All data gleaned from the survey is aimed to help FOOD For Lane County better help stem the tide of food insecurity with its partners.