Food banks throughout Utah have seen heightened demand this year. Many economic factors play a role, but the housing crisis stands out as a significant contributor.
“The numbers right now are as high or higher than they were during COVID,” said Ginette Bott, president and CEO of The Utah Food Bank.
“We had hoped when COVID was put to bed and people were back to work and they got back on their feet, that the numbers for demand and request for food would go down. That hasn't happened.”
Bott said The Utah Food Bank distributed 66.5 million pounds of food from last July to this June. That number was 60 million the year before.
The demand coincides with growing national rates of food insecurity, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture numbers. From 2021 to 2023, 11.8% of Utah households lacked access, at times, to enough food for all its members due to insufficient resources. That’s near the 12.2% national average. From 2020 to 2022, 10.7% of Utah households were food insecure.
“So people are turning to [food] pantries for help. And it's not that I think people are coming to us as a first resort,” Bott said. “I think people are just struggling with the variety of things that are coming their way. ”
Utah’s lack of affordable housing is well-known and felt by many residents. Richard Nelson, a health economist at the University of Utah School of Medicine, calls the tie between housing affordability and food supply issues “strong and close.”
“When you have to pay rent, it makes it hard to put food on the table,” Nelson said. “And so as housing costs increase, rates of food insecurity increase as well. That's been shown nationally, and trends are looking that way in Utah as well.”
He said food insecurity has increased alongside the proportion of cost-burdened households. This refers to households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing, like rent or mortgage payments. More than one-fourth of Utah households fall into this category according to 2023 census figures. In the same year, Utah’s median gross rent was $145 above the national average.
The rising cost of food doesn’t help either.
As of September 2024, food prices had increased 2.5% in 13 Western states, including Utah, over the previous year according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
State lawmakers are trying to remedy the burden of housing on Utahns’ budgets, such as encouraging the construction of starter homes. But, as Nelson points out, those are long-term solutions. The significant gap between supply and demand in the housing market can’t be fixed quickly enough.
“As that continues over the short and intermediate term, there's probably a good chance that food insecurity will continue to increase.”
