Food Banks and The Pandemic

What is estimated to be the number of Americans facing hunger in 2021?

What role did Feeding America play during the pandemic for food banks?

What major challenge did food banks face at the onset of the pandemic?

How did food banks improve their operations in response to the pandemic?

What impact did heightened awareness of food insecurity have on food banks?

What does the forecasting model help food banks understand?

What were the pre-pandemic estimates of people facing hunger according to Feeding America?

What must food banks articulate clearly to translate goodwill into action?

What significant change occurred in food banks during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Which organization developed forecasting models to analyze food insecurity during the pandemic?

What was a major factor analyzed by Feeding America in its forecasting models?

How did food banks enhance their operations post-pandemic according to the insights gained?

What specific tool did Feeding America create for its member food banks?

What was a direct impact of the lessons learned during the pandemic on food banks' future planning?

What did the forecasting models take into consideration when projecting food insecurity scenarios?

Which entity was involved in assisting Feeding America to develop its forecasting tools?

In 2021, food banks were preparing for a potential increase in demand for food assistance, despite lowered official forecasts.
The pandemic's lingering effects, including unemployment and poverty, sustained high demand for food banks.
Food banks gained experience operating under emergency conditions, like finding new food sources and adapting distribution methods.
Prior to the pandemic, Feeding America estimated around 35 million Americans faced hunger, which increased to 45 million during the pandemic.
The upsurge in demand for food aid led to increased awareness of food insecurity, prompting higher outreach and donations.
Food banks had to articulate the need for assistance effectively to translate goodwill into action.

Food banks are using lessons learned from the pandemic to improve operations, engage new expertise, and leverage data-driven insights.
Food banks increased their use of analytics to predict food aid demand and source food donations.
A forecasting model developed by Feeding America, with assistance from McKinsey, helps food banks understand the effects of unemployment and economic trends on food insecurity.
This model uses county-level data on unemployment, poverty, jobs at risk, and COVID-19 caseloads to project scenarios for food insecurity.
Alongside demand analysis, the model uses real-time data to analyze supply within the Feeding America network, taking into account federal aid programs like CFAP.
Feeding America developed a separate tool for member food banks to replicate demand and supply analysis for specific geographic areas.