Food insecurity is a growing problem in the United States.

According to the latest data from the Department of Agriculture, 12.8% of households in the United States were food-insecure at some point during 2022, up from 10.2% in 2021. Food banks nationwide are struggling to meet demand, serving more families with fewer resources and donations. 

Government assistance has been inconsistent, with pandemic-era food aid ending in March and the 2018 farm bill being extended through September 2024 at the eleventh hour. Inflationary pressures on food prices means that food banks are also getting fewer food donations. 

Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America, told “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal that she is hopeful for improving conditions, and she’s “remaining optimistic that we’ll be able to break through.”

The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Kai Ryssdal: So this is a little sideways, but bear with me here. I was watching TV like a month ago maybe, and I saw you and the guy who runs Jersey Mike’s, the sandwich shop. And it occurred to me that if you’re going on TV with a sandwich shop guy, you must have some needs, some demand that you’re just trying to desperately get filled. 

Claire Babineaux-Fontenot: Wow, you are spot on. That is exactly what that should mean to everyone. It’s a great partnership that we have with Jersey Mike’s. It underscores, though, that people really continue to struggle out there. And we have the wherewithal to be helpful. And having the chance to talk to your audience is one of the ways that we can do that.

Ryssdal: So look, I want to get to how people can help in a minute. But other than actually going to and donating to food banks, what means of support do you have? Where do you get the assistance that you can deliver?

Babineaux-Fontenot: The primary place that we get assistance is from individuals who decide to make donations. Donating food is another good way. And certainly using your voices and making certain that policymakers and decision-makers know that this is an issue that matters to you. That’s another really powerful and important way to do it.

Ryssdal: It occurs to me that even though inflation is well below where it was when we were talking last time, prices are still elevated, and there are a lot of people in this country who have trouble making ends meet. And I imagine that’s why, No. 1, your demand is up, but also your supply, as it were, your sources of donations are down, right? 

Babineaux-Fontenot: Yeah, right again. As pandemic relief was going away last year, food insecurity rates were going up. Right now, 1 in 7 people in this country are food-insecure. And to what you said before, it’s coming at a time when inflation is coming down in some places, but where it’s stubbornly high is with food. So it’s a double whammy that’s happening.

Ryssdal: For all the good work that you do and the umbrella organizations that you work with, it’s only one leg in the stool, as it were. One of the others is government and the policymakers that you mentioned. Where are we in government support, right? I mean, there’s the farm bill, there’s [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program], there’s Women, Infants and Children. I mean, there’s all kinds of government programs. Generally speaking, where do we stand?

Babineaux-Fontenot: Well, right now, things are stalled, largely, with some of the things going on in Congress around making certain that we don’t have a government shutdown. That has implications to all of the things that you just said. You mentioned the farm bill. It is a once-in-a-five-year opportunity that we have to invest in people’s food security. So we’re trying to be towering examples of what can be accomplished when people come together and when we all agree that it’s unacceptable in this country for 1 in 5 kids to not know where their next meal is gonna come from. And that’s what we’re doing right now.

Ryssdal: This is kind of a loaded question, but I figure you’ve done enough interviews, you can handle it. What does it say about this country that we play politics with hunger?

Babineaux-Fontenot: You know, I think the first thing that it says is we don’t even realize that we’re doing it. Before the pandemic hit — I’m sure I said this in previous conversations with you — I knew that if the American public really understood what was happening with hunger, that we would activate. And then the pandemic hits and people know what’s going on, and then they’re saying, “No, no, no, we’ve got to work together.” I think now, people, unfortunately, think that hunger has gone away because the lines have gone from outside blocking traffic to back inside buildings. So I feel good about the fact that we’ve surveyed voters, and they’ve said that this matters to them. One thing I’m pretty sure of, Kai, is that politicians care about what their voters care about. So I’m hoping and I’m remaining optimistic that we’ll be able to break through.