Food insecurity in the Coachella Valley

Food insecurity in the Coachella Valley was more than 3% higher than California's state average. That was according to a study by Feeding America.  

With the ending of many pandemic-era programs and higher prices at grocery stores, volunteers with FIND Food Bank said they were working for change.

The help was especially needed in the Coachella Valley.

Each year, Feeding America released its annual Map the Meal Gap study, which revealed the local-level estimates of food insecurity and food costs for every county and congressional district across the nation.

Debbie Espinosa, who was FIND's President and CEO, said, “When this report was released a couple of months ago, the statistics that were showing, specifically for our Coachella Valley area is that we are approximately three and a half percent higher in the food insecurity rates than the state of California's average.”

While the food insecurity in the state was approximately 12.5% , the Coachella Valley was at 16%.

Espinosa said the reason for the higher level of food insecurity was due to location.

She said, “The Coachella Valley is a rural area in the state of California, and as we know, with many of the rural areas across the United States, they have a higher disproportional rate of food insecurity than that of the urban areas.”

She also said, “So, one out of every six people in the Coachella Valley, based on the study that we're seeing is food insecure, at risk of being food insecure, while the national average is actually one in seven.”

Two-thousand volunteers were needed at FIND Food Bank to help process 20 million pounds of food every year.

To learn more about the program, click here.