A USC study published in September revealed food insecurity in Los Angeles was at a ten-year high as of July 2023 with almost a third of households — representing roughly 1 million people total — experiencing food insecurity. Nearly half of these families have children, and those hit the hardest include low-income households and Latine and Black communities.

The study, published in partnership with the Dornsife Public Exchange and the Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research, defines food insecurity as the “lack of access to enough food to live an active, healthy life because of limited money or other resources.” Food insecurity dropped when L.A. County introduced emergency measures during the coronavirus pandemic, such as investing in meal assistance and food delivery services and increasing enrollment in CalFresh. 

The subsequent removal of these resources has contributed to a rise in food insecurity despite unemployment being at a relatively low 5%. Food insecurity in L.A. is 6% higher than last year and 16% higher than in 2021, when food insecurity levels had nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Kayla de la Haye, the director of the Institute for Food System Equity at the CESR and an author of the report, said the rising levels of food insecurity will have an immense impact on the health of Angelenos, as a lack of nutritious food puts people at risk for diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

“We have a whole bunch of households and families with kids that don’t have enough to eat. It compromises their nutrition, it compromises their mental health, their brain function,” de la Haye said. “So, collectively, this is really a big problem for our community that we should be trying to tackle.” 

Low-income families have been hit the hardest, comprising 77% of households facing food insecurity. Communities of color have also been disproportionately impacted, with rates of food insecurity among Black and Latine households in L.A. nearly double those of white Angelenos.

De la Haye said this disparity is largely the result of underinvestment in communities of color, partially due to redlining — the practice of denying loans to people in areas deemed too hazardous for investment — which has made many communities of color less appealing for grocery stores to move into. This underinvestment creates what some community organizations describe as a “food apartheid” to emphasize the historically racist policies that result in these barriers to accessing nutritious food. 

“[Underinvestment and redlining] combine together for certain populations, particularly Black and Hispanic individuals in L.A. County, and low income communities, where they have these barriers on all sides and a lack of resources to be able to cope and access the food that they really need to live a healthy life,” de la Haye said.

Juan Estrada, a sophomore majoring in business administration and the assistant director of funding for Trojan Shelter, a recognized student organization which supports students experiencing homelessness, said the lack of affordable healthy food in Inglewood where he grew up made it almost impossible for residents to eat well. 

“Around here, there’s a lot of liquor stores, there’s a lot of fast food places, but if you compare [low-income areas in L.A.] to a more wealthy neighborhood, they have access to different food: They have Whole Foods, they have Trader Joe’s,” Estrada said. “So even just by location and level of income, it feels like there’s this system that forces you to choose unhealthy food versus healthy food.”

The report stated that another reason behind food insecurity in L.A. is low enrollment in programs such as the supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children, known as WIC, as well as CalFresh. Of the 1 million L.A. households experiencing food insecurity, over half were either not registered or ineligible for CalFresh or WIC benefits.

 De la Haye said the reason for such low enrollment is multifaceted and includes stigma around these programs and the lengthy paperwork involved in enrolling. Undocumented immigrants, who are often food insecure, and people above a certain income threshold are not eligible for enrollment despite many of them struggling with food insecurity as well. 

“We’ve actually found a lot of food insecurity in that middle income group because the cost of living is so high here. The food prices have gone up by 10 and 12 percent the last few years, and people have a lot of folks in that middle income bracket,” de la Haye said. “When things get tight … food is often one of the first things that people will compromise on to keep [their] house and keep paying their bills.”

The report recommended lower food prices, increasing enrollment in WIC and CalFresh, increasing support for food banks and opening more grocery stores to reduce food insecurity. Noah Etoka, a junior majoring in public relations who uses CalFresh, said he appreciated the report’s emphasis on expanding access to food and grocery stores.

“It’s not just whether or not you can eat the food or whether or not you can make the food; being actually able to access the stores is a big part,” Etoka said.

De la Haye said L.A. County is consistently responsive to USC’s reports and concerns regarding food insecurity, and is making progress towards increasing awareness of — and eliminating — food insecurity. Two days after the most recent report’s release, Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office cited the report in a motion to commemorate “National Food Day” in L.A. on Oct. 24. 

“We’ve been working closely with [the county] over the last three years to give them this data, and they have consistently responded by allocating more resources to food issues,” de la Haye said. “When we get this information out to the county, they’re reacting to it and they realize how severe the problem is, and they are starting to put resources and money into trying to address some of these problems.”