From The Banner · Hau Chu · · 2m
Hunger hits a 5-year high in the DMV
A new Capital Area Food Bank survey finds more families short on food than at any point since the pandemic peak, and two neighboring counties are moving in opposite directions.
In brief
A new Capital Area Food Bank survey finds more families short on food than at any point since the pandemic peak, and two neighboring counties are moving in opposite directions. Food insecurity is not settling back down the way it did after past recessions, and where it falls depends heavily on what local government…
A five-year peak
The Capital Area Food Bank's annual hunger report finds food insecurity across the capital region at its highest level in five years, above even the worst of the pandemic.
What the number measures
The USDA definition is simple and harsh: no consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life. The food bank has surveyed for it every year since 2022.
“a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life”
The recovery never came
After the 2008 recession, hunger stayed high for a couple of years and then fell. CEO Radha Muthiah says this five-year trend line refuses to bend the same way.
“our five-year trend does not show that”
Who answered
Nearly 4,000 residents responded in early to mid-May, spanning Montgomery and Prince George's counties, D.C., Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William.
Prince George's leads, again
At 56%, Prince George's reported the region's highest rate and its sharpest jump, up from 49% a year earlier. It has topped every jurisdiction since the survey began.
Montgomery bucks the trend
Montgomery was the only county to post a real decline, from 35% to 31%. Arlington and Fairfax stayed lowest at 22% and 27%.
“is notable as an outlier in the region in terms of its negative trendline”
Federal jobs, federal pain
Shutdowns and DOGE-ordered workforce cuts squeezed current and former federal workers hardest, and the shock rippled out across the region's household budgets.
Money and partners matter
Muthiah credits Montgomery's spending through its Office of Food Systems Resilience. Prince George's has 102 partner organizations to Montgomery's 43, plus a hunger heat map and a food pharmacy in Largo.
“It is a great example of what is possible when we have good policies, public investment, strong partnership”
Groceries in the library
Parts of Prince George's have no major supermarket. Council members opened food markets inside libraries in Fairmount Heights and District Heights to reach neighbors going without.
“so many of our seniors were just kind of suffering in silence”
The safety net is fraying
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act cuts SNAP by about $186 billion over a decade, and nearly 36,000 Marylanders have already lost benefits. Some immigrant families now skip aid out of fear.
“We shouldn't assume that these numbers are inevitable, right?”
The one thing
Food insecurity is not settling back down the way it did after past recessions, and where it falls depends heavily on what local government chooses to spend and build.
