Thanksgiving dinner is over, but the work is not. Hunger rates across the country are increasing. Last week, our team released this national report, which found that the number of Americans without enough food over one 7-day period was 30% higher in October of 2022 than in October of 2021. The data showed that most states and locales faced similar increases. We also released this NYC and NYS specific report, and Hunger Free America CEO Joel Berg recently discussed these results with NY1.
The average cost of a Thanksgiving meal this year was $64, a 20% increase from last year. Families are facing a shrinking grocery budget at a time when food prices are rising sharply. It costs 13% more to fill grocery carts than it did just 1 year ago. And with far fewer grocery dollars to spend, families are facing the difficult challenge of putting enough food on the table through the end of the month.
For every dollar donated, Hunger Free America can help a family access $60 in SNAP benefits, and 86 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to anti-hunger programming.
