Looking into Baltimore: Impacts of food insecurity
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 2021 report on household food security in the U.S., 13.5 million households are food insecure.
Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for a Livable Future conducted a study in 2018, which reported that one in four Baltimore residents live in areas that lack accessible options for healthy and affordable food.
Baltimore’s Healthy Food Priority Areas, an area where the distance to a supermarket is more than a quarter of a mile, are home to 23.5% of Baltimore residents, and these areas disproportionately affect Black residents. Healthy Food Priority Areas also refer to areas where the median household income is at or below 185% of the Federal Poverty Level, 30% of households have no vehicle available and the average Healthy Food Availability Index (HFAI) score for all food stores is low.