April 28, 2025 / Basic Needs, Equity, Food

Cuts to Federal Funding Could Deepen Poverty in Rural and Low-Income GeorgiaImage

A new analysis from the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) warns that proposed federal budget cuts could severely harm rural communities, low-income families, immigrants, and Georgians of color. Federal programs that help close long-standing gaps in access to health care, education, food, and economic security are now at risk as Congress debates budget reconciliation and appropriations bills ahead of a September 30, 2025 deadline.

Cuts to vital programs like SNAP, education funding, and rural health care are expected to hit hardest in Georgia’s poorest and most vulnerable communities, exacerbating hunger, poverty, and inequality across the state.

Key Takeaways:

  • Georgia ranks 14th in U.S. poverty rates, putting its rural and low-income populations at greater risk if federal funding is slashed.

  • Over 15% of Georgians living in poverty are either Black, Latino, or under 18, meaning federal cuts would disproportionately harm these communities.

  • Programs like SNAP are at risk, threatening food security for thousands of Georgians already living in rural food deserts.

  • Cuts could cost thousands of jobs statewide, particularly in education, health care, and social services sectors.

  • Tracking federal spending impacts is becoming harder, as the administration reduces public data availability, weakening transparency and accountability.

Read the full report here.

September 22, 2023 / Education, Food, Hispanic

Hispanic families in Gwinnett county are struggling to pay for school mealsImage

Meal debt accumulates when children get food at school, but their families don’t have money in their accounts to pay.

Even though Georgia approved a $6.3 million grant to ensure children in families who qualify for reduced meals get them for free, many don’t meet that threshold but still struggle financially.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution calculated that, as of June 2023, in the top 10 Gwinnett elementary schools with the most meal debt per student, 50.1% of students were Hispanic.

Note: this doesn’t include Title I schools. In Gwinnett, Title I schools provide free breakfast to all students.

Read the full story here.

May 11, 2022 / Basic Needs, Food, Inflation

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Both the pandemic and higher prices have increased reliance on nonprofits. The Atlanta Community Food Bank’s (ACFB) President and CEO Kyle Waide said, “The current challenges that we’re all experiencing with higher prices, for gas, for food, for supplies, are causing demand for food assistance to increase and it’s making it more expensive and more challenging for the food bank to respond to that demand.” With high inflation and increasing demand for their services, ACFB’s food costs are 30% higher this year than last year.

December 10, 2021 / Basic Needs, Equity, Food

Despite economic gains in 2021, food bank use is up from 2020 in metro Atlanta.Gallery

This year’s Metro Atlanta Speaks (MAS) survey, the largest public opinion survey in the Atlanta region, showed that 23.9% of respondents reported receiving food from a food bank compared to 17.9% of respondents in 2020. United Way’s 2-1-1 call data, however, found that fewer people were calling to request information about food pantries in 2021 than at the start of the pandemic. Calls about food pantries peaked in March 2020 at 2,255 calls. Comparatively, food pantry calls averaged around 700 calls per month in 2021. This could indicate that many families were concerned about needing to use a food pantry after the initial shock of the pandemic, but actually continued to need assistance over one year into the pandemic. 

Takeaway: The increased use of food banks in 2021 indicates the need for a more aggressive approach to addressing income inequality.

 

December 23, 2020 / Basic Needs, Food

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“The food banks are responding to an unrelenting 50% increase in demand for food,” said Danah Craft, executive director of the Georgia Food Bank Association, which works with food banks around the state. “And it has grown in the last 60 days.” About 40% of the people coming for help now have never had to look for support before, she said. (WABE)

August 25, 2020 / Basic Needs, Food

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Spending monthly what they used to spend annually on purchasing food (12x increase in demand). Using 1/3 typical number of volunteers. (Intown Collaborative Ministries)

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