Hunger in Nevada is getting worse. A new report says weak state coordination doesn’t help
The following excerpt is from an article originally published on The Nevada Independent:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that it is ceasing publication of its annual Household Food Security surveys, which track how many Americans struggle to access food.
But the USDA’s announcement to end what it called “redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous” surveys comes as hunger and food insecurity continue to worsen nationwide and especially in Nevada.
Compounding these issues is the fact that Nevada lacks a clear central authority on food insecurity and is overly reliant on federal dollars and data, according to a new report on food insecurity exclusively shared with The Nevada Independent by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Guinn Center for Policy Priorities think tank.
The report cited 2023 data from Feeding America, which found that 15 percent of Nevadans — or nearly 482,000 people — experience food insecurity, a little higher than the national average of 14 percent. One in 4 Nevada children are food insecure, also above the national average.
The USDA and Feeding America say people are food insecure when they do not have “access, at all times, to enough food for a healthy or active lifestyle” and are unsure of where one’s next meal will come from.
Higher rates of food insecurity occur in Nevada’s rural counties such as Nye and Esmeralda, where geographic isolation limits access to healthy and fresh food — and can lead to long-term health challenges, according to the USDA.
In their policy recommendations, the Guinn Center referenced the “shifting federal funding landscapes” as it called on the state to appoint a clear and empowered authority to take the statewide lead on combating hunger.
The responsibility is currently distributed across a tapestry of actors, with state and federal funds flowing to nonprofits, food pantries, local farmers and other groups.
The state’s Division of Public and Behavioral Health includes an Office of Food Security, which oversees the Council on Food Security, a volunteer body initially formed in 2014 by then-Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) and codified into state law in 2019.
But experts say that the state’s food security office and council operate more like coordinators and less like administrators. Beth Martino, CEO of the nonprofit Three Square, the largest food distributor in Southern Nevada, told The Indy that the “short answer” is that “there is no single point of contact” on state efforts to address food insecurity.
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