Giving Tuesday: Food Insecurity in San Diego
When we think of the holiday season, we think of it as a time of joy, celebration, and abundance. This year has been a challenging one for many people and for many reasons. This holiday season and this Giving Tuesday, we invite you to consider how you can give back. Food insecurity affects roughly 1 in 7 San Diegans. It is defined by the USDA as “a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life”. It involves a lack of available financial resources for food, and it currently impacts an estimated 400,000 people in San Diego County, including more than 160,000 children. This year in particular we have seen a significant increase in food insecurity. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Diego Food Bank provided assistance to an estimated 350,000 people per month. Since San Diego County declared a state of emergency in mid-March of this year, the Food Bank is now feeding roughly 600,000 people per month.
And while food insecurity has detrimental effects for everyone, it is especially damaging for those suffering from eating disorders or disordered eating. The lack of resources and the inability to obtain adequate, nutritious food forces food insecure individuals to skip meals or days of eating, cut meal sizes, or ignore hunger. These persons may not be able to afford an adequate, balanced meal. Additionally, food insecure individuals engage in more eating disorder behaviors, such as binging, purging, or compensatory exercise, than those who are food secure. It is difficult, if not impossible, to work towards eating disorder recovery and a healthy relationship with food without food security and reliable, consistent access to diverse, balanced meals.
This Giving Tuesday, we encourage you to see how you can help us fight food insecurity in San Diego. There are a number of organizations and ways you can help throughout San Diego County. Please see our list of resources below to see how you can get involved. What will you do to give back this holiday season?
Sources & Resources:
https://www.statnews.com/2020/06/25/eating-disorder-food-insecurity/
https://eatingdisorders.dukehealth.org/education/resources/food-insecurity-and-disordered-eating
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/food-insecurity-covid-19-and-eating-disorders-2020081720777
https://hungerandhealth.feedingamerica.org/understand-food-insecurity/