How will COVID-19 reshape the fight against hunger? Urban Institute senior fellow Elaine Waxman joins Billy Shore to share her data-driven insights on food insecurity in America during the pandemic. “SNAP is our number one line of defense for food insecurity,” she explains. “One of the persistent gaps has been that even though SNAP has been a great first line of defense for food insecurity, those benefits continue to be inadequate… The biggest thing we need is Congress to increase the maximum benefit for SNAP,” she says.

Waxman also cautions about the extreme health consequences that can result from food insecurity, particularly during a pandemic. “In the U.S., we typically look at food insecurity as a social welfare problem, and it’s not. It’s a public health problem,” she remarks. “What we’ve learned from research over the years is that if you live in a food insecure household, you are more likely to experience poor health outcomes.”

Listen to one of our foremost experts on food insecurity, nutrition and health disparities explain how research and data can help improve anti-hunger programs.

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