OSU: Pandemic erased Oregon’s progress since Great Recession addressing food insecurity

CORVALLIS, Ore. — The pandemic erased progress since the Great Recession in addressing food insecurity in Oregon, according to a new report from Oregon State University.

“After the Great Recession, rebounding employment numbers and efforts by Oregon safety net programs helped bring the food insecurity rate down to around 10% of households statewide by December 2019,” according to OSU.

That changed this year as the pandemic prompted governments to close schools and businesses in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.

“The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying employment crisis quickly erased all those gains and brought food insecurity up to at least double what it was a year ago, with Black, Hispanic/Latino and Indigenous households especially hard-hit,” according to OSU. “An estimated 1 million Oregonians — close to 1 in 4 people — experienced food insecurity this year, meaning they had a disruption in their ability to feed themselves or their family.”

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