How inflation drives hunger and food insecurity

Hunger is spiking around the world as inflation makes some foods unaffordable for a growing number of people. Join Embrace Relief in being part of the solution today with a donation for hunger relief!

Like almost everything else lately, food prices have been rising at a fast rate in nearly every part of the world. In the United States, the cost of food was up 10 percent in May 2022 compared to one year earlier. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index, which measures the average global cost for staple foods,  soared 23 percent from June 2021 to June 2022. To put it in simple, real-word terms: right now, your money buys less food than it used to. 

There isn’t any one single cause for this inflation: supply-chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change causing havoc to global agriculture, and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine are all just some of the factors in why food costs more. Rising food prices affect us all, causing everyone to have to set aside more of their income for this most basic human need. But of course, lower- and middle-income families and countries are hit hardest by these economic impacts.

In America, the number of food-insecure people has steadily risen in recent years, including a spike after the beginning of the pandemic. Someone is food insecure if they either do not have access to healthy food, or if they do not have the resources to acquire it. At the end of 2020, food insecurity in the U.S. had risen to more than 14 million adults and 16 million children, in large part to the many people who lost their jobs and incomes during the early days of the pandemic. Because the price of food is a key driver of food-insecurity, that number can be expected to rise even further as many lower-income and unemployed people are finding that their fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy – the nutritious food they need for a healthy body – are unaffordable.

Faced with this conundrum, more and more Americans are turning to community food banks and food pantries to supplement their nutritional needs. Demand is skyrocketing around the country, and many food banks are strapped for resources and struggling to meet the need. In order to reverse this trend, we will all need to come together and give what we can to ensure that no one goes hungry because they can’t afford food.

Help Embrace Relief deliver hunger relief

That’s where you – with the help of Embrace Relief – come in.

A commitment to fighting hunger wherever it exists on the planet is one of the foundations of Embrace Relief’s work. Since our founding, Embrace Relief’s International Hunger Relief programs have fed more than 1.1 million people in over 50 countries. In 2022 alone, Embrace Relief delivered food packages and hot meals to more than 130,000 people in 15 countries during our month-long campaigns in April and July.

Embrace Relief has been fortunate to forge partnerships with local organizations – including food banks and food pantries – around the globe, which allows us to deliver aid wherever it’s needed most. During our International Hunger Relief 2022 campaigns, we’ve served our neighbors in the United States, but we’ve also distributed food in sub-Saharan Africa, Greece, Yemen, Indonesia, the Philippines, and more

But we can’t do any of that without the generosity of our donors. Your support is crucial, and every donation is capable of improving the lives of real people in need – a minimum donation of just $25 can give an entire family the gift of a package full of good, nutritious food. Every dollar adds up.

So please, if you can, donate today. Help Embrace Relief fight inflation and hunger, and help thousands of people around the world get the food they need. Every contribution you make helps one more family go to bed on a full stomach, and brings us one small step closer to ending world hunger.