Recent research from Feeding America projects that food insecurity in Connecticut increased by 14% during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the release of its latest Map The Meal Gap annual report, Feeding America shared data for 2019. Additionally, Feeding America projections for food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic that are based on unemployment and other statistical data. An interactive map with 2019 data is here. Projections on COVID period food insecurity are here. Data for both studies may be viewed by county, congressional district, or by state.

It will not surprise anyone in the Connecticut Food Bank | Foodshare network to see these numbers. It was clear from the earliest days of the pandemic that more households were struggling to meet basic needs during the pandemic as unemployment reached historically high levels.

In Connecticut, overall food insecurity in 2019 was 12%. One in eight people in Connecticut struggled at times during the year to access sufficient food for a healthy life. The food insecurity rate for Connecticut children in 2019 was slightly more than 15%. Projections released in March of this year by Feeding America estimate that overall food insecurity increased to nearly 14% Child food insecurity in Connecticut is projected to have increased to 18%, meaning an estimated one in six Connecticut residents were food insecure.