New No Kid Hungry Poll Finds Majority of Virginia Families Struggling to Afford Groceries Resulting in Widespread Food Insecurity
Public School Families are Hardest Hit by Crisis; 77% Report Being One Emergency Away From Hunger
Grocery shopping is all about making choices and, more and more often, those choices come down to existential issues that have nothing to do with colorful labels or clever marketing – they come down to cost. According to a new poll from No Kid Hungry Virginia, a majority of Virginians (78%) say groceries have become harder to afford in the last year.
As a result, nearly half of those surveyed (42%) reported a symptom of food insecurity, like not having enough to eat, eating low-quality food or eating a limited variety of food due to the cost – and families with school aged kids were hit hardest yet.
While the causes are varied–rising costs, low wages, limited resources—the effects are felt in rural, urban and suburban communities across the state, leading many Virginians to make those difficult choices at the grocery store. Nearly half (46%) of the respondents said they buy less or no fresh produce while half (50%) purchase less or no protein. Parents and guardians of K-12 students revealed that they are being forced to sacrifice healthier foods to cut back on food costs.
When asked how her family’s life would be changed by having an unlimited grocery budget, one mom in Richmond replied, “We would eat much healthier and wouldn’t have to skip meals anymore. We also wouldn’t have to sink into more credit card debt to afford food.”
Poll results showed that Virginia families are often forced to make difficult tradeoffs to make ends meet. In the past 12 months, nearly half (46%) of all Virginians and two-thirds of K-12 public school families (62%) had to choose between paying for food and another essential, like rent, utilities, gas, a home or car repair, or medical bills. The reality is, we all have a neighbor, a coworker or a friend forced to make these devastating decisions.
Moreover, more than three-quarters (77%) of Virginia families are just one emergency away from hunger, saying a single unexpected $1,500 expense would jeopardize their ability to afford food.
This is impacting Virginians’ mental health. More than half (58%) of respondents said they are more stressed by figuring out how they can afford enough nutritious food than they were 12 months ago. This is especially true for K-12 public school families (68% report more stress).
Asked how an increased grocery budget would impact his family, a dad from Bedford County highlighted the positive effects it would have on his mental health, family dynamics and future, “I could spend more time with my children and my wife, work on repairing our new home, and save for the future.”
Nearly all (95%) of Virginians agree that ending childhood hunger should be a shared, bipartisan priority. It’s essential that legislators from both sides of the aisle continue working together to support strong nutrition policies to ensure every child and family has access to healthy food.
No Kid Hungry Virginia commissioned the survey from Change Research, which surveyed 1,278 Virginia adults including many parents of school-aged children. The poll was fielded between August 15 and 21, 2024 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.0%.