ATLANTA — A new report from Feeding America’s “Map the Meal Gap” study shows people in every Georgia county are struggling with food insecurity.
The report comes nearly a year after the U.S. Department of Agriculture stopped collecting food security data.
The study found one in seven Georgians is experiencing hunger. In the 29 counties served by the Atlanta Community Food Bank, more than 900,000 people are dealing with food insecurity.
“Sadly we were not surprised by the data,” Atlanta Community Food Bank President Kyle Waide said.
Waide says the food bank is serving about 270,000 households each month, and the 2024 data shows 68% of those households earn too much to qualify for SNAP benefits.
“Folks who are working earning $50,000 to $70,000 a year as a household are having a really hard time just being able to afford basic needs,” Waide said.
Waide says many families are feeling additional financial pressure as students return to school.
“There’s a lot of upfront expense getting supplies and clothes and other things that our kids need to do well in school, and so families who were already facing pressure are now facing even more financial pressure, it means that more of them are going to need help from us,” Waide said.
He says the average household needs an additional $23 per person each week to cover food costs.
“If you’re say a single parent and you’re making $60,000 a year and got a couple of kids, if you compare where groceries prices, and gas prices, and all of those things were just a few years ago, you’re spending considerably more money on those basic needs than you did then,” Waide said.
Waide says the findings reflect what the Atlanta Community Food Bank has been seeing across its service area.
“Lines are longer at food pantries than we can remember them being, more and more of our neighbors are facing economic pressures,” Waide said.
WSB Radio’s Veronica Waters contributed to this story.