Even before the crisis, nearly 15 percent of children in Georgia lived in food insecure households

The newest COVID-19 relief bill (the “Heroes Act”) that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last night would – if passed by the U.S. Senate and signed into law by President Trump – provide low-income Georgia families and individuals with at least $391 million extra over the next 16 months to purchase groceries or food at farmers markets, thereby both reducing hunger and stimulating the state’s economy.

In response to the bill passing the House, Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, a nationwide direct service and advocacy organization, said: “Given Georgia’s high rate of hunger even before this current crisis, and the skyrocketing hunger now, the extra $391 million in food aid to the state is urgently needed.

In 2016-2018, when the economy was still strong, nearly 15 percent of children in Georgia — or 367,779 kids — lived in households that were unable to afford enough food, according to Hunger Free America’s 2019 U.S. Hunger Atlas, based on an analysis of federal data.

Since the COVID-19 crisis, the already high rate of state hunger has skyrocketed, as evidenced by the 30-40 percent reported increase in demand at Georgia food banks.

Child hunger is soaring across America during the current health and economic crises, with 37 percent of parents nationwide cutting the size of meals or skipping meals for their children because they did not have enough money for food in March, according to a recent poll of more than 1,000 Americans nationwide by Hunger Free America.