From Military.com:
“Demands of Military Life
Behind Rising Food Insecurity Among Families, Reports Find”
(During a recent drill weekend, a
soldier shops the shelves of a food pantry at the Kansas City armory, which is
open to all military service members.)
With one in five military
families experiencing food insecurity in 2021 -- up from one in eight two years
ago -- two major reports released this week tried to explain what's causing the
rise in families facing the risk of not having enough to eat. The Washington,
D.C.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies and
advocacy group Military Family Advisory Network each released studies that
found structural parts of military life, such as high rates of spouse
unemployment, and moving and child care shortages are driving the growing rate
of food insecurity among active-duty military families. "Unfortunately, we
know that families are struggling to provide healthy food. Now we've made it
our focus to learn why so that we and our colleagues in this space may work
toward lasting solutions," said Shannon Razsadin, MFAN executive director,
during the rollout of MFAN's surveys, "Causal Factors of Military and
Veteran Family Food Insecurity."
According to the CSIS report, the
uncertainty surrounding feeding a military family is a national security
concern. "It multiplies stress on active-duty personnel, diminishes
well-being among service members and their children -- who are more likely to
serve in the military as adults -- and may hinder recruitment for the armed
services," according to the CSIS report. The MFAN report was based on
surveys filled out last year by 312 service members and their families in
Virginia and Texas. Those respondents reported that living on a single income,
frequent moves, unexpected expenses, natural disasters and inflation contribute
to food insecurity, defined as not having reliable access to adequate amounts
of nutritious, healthy food.
A survey by the military support
group Blue Star Families released earlier this year found that the spouse
unemployment rate in military families is at 20% and more than 63% are
underemployed. Military spouses often struggle to find jobs because they face
hiring discrimination as a result of frequent relocations or they have gaps in
employment related to their moves. Difficulty finding child care further drives
many military spouses away from full-time employment. Moving itself also was
listed as a causal factor, with those surveyed saying that the Defense
Department is slow to reimburse for out-of-pocket expenses or does not fully
reimburse for all costs related to relocation. Other causes included expenses
associated with expanding military families and family planning, unexpected
bills like emergency trips to a veterinarian or auto repair, and expenses
related to natural disasters such as the 2021 ice storm in Texas or living in
high-priced areas. "A lot of military families feel the same way, that we
just don't make enough money to support our needs nowadays," wrote one
respondent. "I think that would help us tremendously if the pay were increased
or even the subsidy, when you talk about Basic Allowance for Subsistence, even
if that was increased, or instead of it being standard by rank, it should be
standard by family size."
The reports included numerous
recommendations to curtail food insecurity among service members and their
families. The MFAN report suggested excluding the Basic Allowance for Housing,
or BAH, from the required calculations to qualify for the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or commonly referred to as food stamps) and
count as little BAH as possible to qualify for the new Basic Needs Allowance
that was included in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. A new report,
ordered by Congress in that same law, may shed more light on the scope of the
issue. A Defense Department review of food insecurity in the U.S. military is
due by Oct. 1.
The Basic Needs Allowance is
still in its infancy, with the Pentagon currently developing the qualifications
and policies that regulate the new benefit. The DoD's fiscal 2023 budget
request includes funding to implement the allowance starting next year. MFAN
also suggested that the DoD expedite reimbursement and completely cover costs
tied to military moves. CSIS recommended improving employment opportunities for
military spouses through career programs and expanding the availability of
affordable child care. "You have a group of folks [military spouses] that
have committed to the military life of service but aren't in uniform. The
nation is really missing out on this great treasure trove of people," said
Col. Christopher Reid, a fellow in CSIS's International Security Program. Reid
was speaking in his capacity as an analyst for CSIS -- a temporary one-year
fellowship designed for senior personnel to conduct research and broaden their
understanding of topics of interest to the U.S. military -- and not for the Air
Force.
The data remains mixed on the
extent of the food insecurity problem among military families. In the past,
Defense Department officials cited data showing low usage of SNAP as an
indication that there wasn't a problem of need in the U.S. military. In 2000,
the Defense Department's Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation found that
service members relied on SNAP at significantly lower rates than civilians:
Between .08% and .42% of troops use SNAP, also known as food stamps, while
civilian usage is 9.6%. Critics noted, however, that the report pulled data
from only two months in 2019 and did not include numbers from 40% of states,
including several with large military populations such as California, Hawaii
and Virginia. There are also service members who experience food insecurity
but, because of the qualifications for the program, aren't eligible for SNAP. Last
year, Patty Barron, the Pentagon's deputy assistant secretary of defense for
military community and family policy, said that military food insecurity was a
top priority for the Biden administration. Barron said the DoD was collecting
new data on the extent of the problem.
A survey released in 2021 found
that nearly 33% of more than 5,600 respondents at an unidentified Army
installation were considered marginally food insecure, meaning they faced food
hardship or had difficulties ensuring that their food budget stretched through
the end of the month. Razsadin, the MFAN executive director, said military
families face difficulties admitting they need help. But the group's recent
report, she said, shows there are factors beyond their control that affect
their ability to feed their families. "It's difficult to talk about food
insecurity," Razsadin said in a video accompanying the release of the
reports. "People were not comfortable talking about it publicly because
there is that feeling of stigma and shame. ... We are here to understand the
causal factors and also to shift the culture and promote help-seeking
behavior."
^ Hopefully this Report will bring
concrete changes that help Soldiers and Military Families. No one risking their
lives for the United States should ever have to wonder where their next meal will
come from. ^
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