How many America people cannot afford food?

The poverty in the USA is incomprehensible esp. by dint of how it exists cheek-by-jowl with the most obscene wealth. I think the bottom-most tier is entirely the dispossessed as they’re too heavily policed to have generational continuity.

If you mean a fully nutritional diet with everything we know is needed for good health it's pretty high, 13.5% according to studies.

If you mean how many Americans die from hunger, practically zero. There are free kitchens almost everywhere and begging/scavenging for food mostly works out

~13.5% or about 1 in 8 Americans struggle with affording food. Here’s a link with some more info:

https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics#:~:text=13.5%20percent%20(18.0%20million)%20of,at%20some%20time%20during%202023.

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I can only share my personal experience:

To be candid, I’m very poor and often struggle to afford food. I go donate plasma (血浆) twice a week for some extra money so that I can make ends meet and try to keep my fridge stocked.

It’s very dystopian.

There are food pantries in the area, but they’re not always stocked and I try not to take from the food pantries because I convince myself that there are other people out there struggling more than I am.

And because I am healthy enough to be able to physically donate plasma, I often put that money towards food.

There are government assistance programs that help some low-income people with ‘food stamps’ to help them buy food, but you have to have virtually no income to get this assistance.

For most of us who have jobs, we do not qualify for food stamps/food assistance. Unfortunately, with the cost of living being extremely high, the money I receive from work goes towards my rent, so that I’m not homeless.

The average 1 bedroom apartment where I live is about $1300 (usd). I take home maybe about $1700 a month. That does not leave a lot left over to pay for utilities (heat, electric, phone/internet), car insurance and gas, monthly household needs, debt, and food.

I am fortunate that I have friends who often feed me when we hang out, and I work at a place that serves food, so my boss allows me to make my lunch there on days that I work. I am able to not completely starve by using the additional income I have from selling my plasma.

My experience is not unique. There are so many Americans struggling right now.

What I found suspicious is that all of the comments from supposedly Americans were claiming that they cannot afford food and are starving. Some even said it’s very common in the US to eat cat food instead.

Sure, some might be that unlucky to find themself in this financial predicament but all of them? That is highly unlikely. When I pointed that out I got shadow banned.

And this pattern of opinions comparing China and the West being only black and white have become more blatant in the last couple of days.

It has to be alot at this point. I make pretty decent money and only buy cheap food, skip breakfast and grocery costs are still a struggle.

When I was in my mid to late 20's, I was working two jobs and I could not afford to pay rent and pay to feed myself well everyday. Some days I would not eat much, if at all.
Now I can afford to feed myself and pay rent.
Everyone is going through different things. It really depends on your job, location, responsibilities, disabilities, and if you have generational wealth or other financial support from friends and family.
You're going to find some people are homeless and/or can't eat everyday, and you're going to find less people who live in $500,000,000 mansions and have never had to consider that a necessity could possibly become unavailable.
The majority of people are one to three missed paychecks away from losing access to food and housing. Stable, but only just.
We are a very divided nation.

I think it’s being able to afford good healthy food in amounts large enough to get 3 meals a day. I am disabled and get a disability check that barely covers my monthly costs and I qualify for $23 a month in EBT which for non Americans is a supplement used to buy food items.

The issue is not that we can’t afford food, it’s we can’t afford good food. Organic foods are expensive while processed food is cheap and plentiful. For an average food budget you can make 3 organic nutritious meals per week or 7+ meals, full lunches, snacks, etc. that are cheap and processed.

Hello,

I am an old man and I am given $292USD/month for food by my state government.

The reason why is that my rent in a one bedroom apartment in Northern California is $1750/month but I only make $1500 month. I am using my credit cards to pay for the balance and I am in debt.

This is America right now. The last 20 years have been brutal because the rich have taken over our country and own politicians, the news media and big business. The whole system is rigged so that the rich get the benefit of this country with their corruption of government. Watch the MORE PERFECT UNION youTube channel to get a sense of what it is like for workers in this country and you will see the corruption that infects this country.

Many of us think this country is done for and are just surviving any way we can. The American dream is now a lie and we are all suffering.

There are many people who can not afford food but it is not the majority. There are food banks, free kitchens and low salary earners qualify for government assistance. Communities set up little free pantries around town for donations and anyone can access these. A single person making less than $1600/month in my state can receive up to $292/month in food stamps from the government.

High rent is an issue and there are limits on the number of tenants allowed per apartment. College towns tend to have more poor-quality apartments allowing multiple roommates, however the prices are much higher than they were 25 years ago in desirable areas of the country and wages have not increased as fast. I just looked up the price of my old apartment I rented as a new college grad making just above poverty salary and with college debts. It was 2 bedrooms and 725 square feet and I paid $450/month in 1996. Today it is $795/month or 1.8 times higher while Minimum wage 1996 was $4.75/hour and now it is 7.25/hour or 1.5 times higher. So not that bad. But it’s different in other parts of the country. People who live in California have it the worst. I choose not to live there.

https://preview.redd.it/sd5ct5075qee1.jpeg?width=1321&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7645b93310848182d0f25205d66e273a4e4bae1b