A new report shows the Triad still has a long way to go to address food insecurity. Greensboro and Winston-Salem are both among the cities with the highest need.
According to the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) report, the United States has made considerable progress in reducing food hardship since the height of the recession.
But the need is still high in the Triad.
Last year, Greensboro was rated the worst metropolitan area in the nation for food insecurity. It inched upward slightly in the latest report, to number nine.
Russ Clegg, with the city's planning division, credits stronger local partnerships for the improvement, but says it's still a tough problem.
“We don't have a lot of hard data to really say what people's exact problems are and how they are being met or not met,” says Clegg. “We hope if we get a USDA grant in the near future to partner with UNCG because every neighborhood is different, so we really want to understand what their needs are.”
Winston-Salem also made the list for top metro areas with the highest food hardship rates in 2015.
The report says food assistance programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) are helping some families to make ends meet, but they only go so far.
The study points out that although the unemployment rate has decreased, many families are still struggling with lower wages, part-time employment and other financial obstacles.
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