In recent years, the way communities respond to hunger has changed.
For decades, food access efforts largely centered on emergency food distribution, moving donated and purchased food through food banks, pantries, and community programs to meet immediate needs. Beginning in the late 2000s, a broader approach started to take hold: one that recognized food access as connected to health, economic stability, local agriculture, and community infrastructure.
Investments in programs like nutrition incentives, produce prescriptions, food rescue, local food systems, and community-based delivery models helped expand what it means to address hunger. The goal became not only getting food to people, but ensuring people can access nutritious food in ways that support health, dignity, and long-term stability.
Six months into 2026, those more connected approaches are being tested.
Communities are facing several interconnected changes at the same time: more families losing purchasing power, more organizations operating with fewer resources, and more barriers affecting how people access food.
The result is not one single crisis, but a series of compounding pressures reshaping how communities respond to food insecurity.
5 reasons local food systems are under unprecedented strain
1. More than 4 million Americans’ grocery budgets were cut while food costs increase.
Between July 2025 and March 2026, SNAP participation fell by more than 4 million people (nearly 10%) nationwide, representing the sharpest decline in participation in decades. At the same time, grocery prices are nearly 3% higher than they were a year ago, with fresh fruits and vegetables up more than 6%. For many households, losing SNAP means paying more for the same groceries while also losing up to $300 from their monthly grocery budget. As food costs continue to rise, families already balancing rent, utilities, transportation, and healthcare have even less room to absorb that loss, forcing difficult decisions about where the next meal will come from.
2. Families aren't just losing food assistance, they're losing access to nutritious food.
For many households, SNAP is the gateway to programs that make fresh fruits and vegetables more affordable. When families lose SNAP, they may also lose access to matching produce incentives, reducing their ability to purchase fresh nutritious food from farmers markets, grocery stores, and other community food outlets. At a time when healthcare providers across the country are increasingly prescribing food as part of treatment for chronic disease, losing access to affordable fresh food can have consequences that extend far beyond hunger. According to the CDC, adults experiencing food insecurity are 2 to 3 times more likely to have type 2 diabetes, underscoring why reliable access to nutritious food is a critical part of improving health outcomes.
3. Demand is rising while the organizations responding have fewer resources.
Communities are facing a compounding challenge: more families are turning to local food providers at the same time that many organizations are losing resources needed to keep food moving. In early 2025, the USDA eliminated approximately $1 billion in funding for programs designed to strengthen local food supply chains. Even when emergency funding is provided, it often focuses on procuring food rather than the infrastructure required to move that food to people. Only small pools of funding reach the neighborhood organizations responsible for distributing it, delivering it to households, coordinating volunteers, and responding quickly to changing community needs.
4. The last mile of food delivery still remains one of the biggest barriers to food access.
Having food available doesn't guarantee people can reach it. A survey from U.S. Huner found that 42% of people experiencing food insecurity also face transportation barriers, making it difficult to access traditional food distribution sites. For older adults, people with disabilities, working families, and rural communities, even a short trip to a pantry can be impossible without reliable transportation. As organizations consolidate distribution sites and adjust operating hours to stretch limited resources, solving the last-mile challenge to get food from where it exists to the people who need it has become more important than ever.
5. New barriers are preventing families from accessing food, even when support is available.
Community partners across the country describe longer lines, increased demand, and growing challenges serving everyone who needs assistance. The Urban Institute’s 2025 Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey found that immigration-related concerns are causing some immigrant families to avoid essential activities and safety-net programs, including services designed to support basic needs. As a result, community partners are being forced to rethink how they safely connect people with food.
Each of these pressures would be significant on its own. Together, they are creating a moment of unprecedented strain for the organizations responsible for turning food access into reality.
The investments that have made food access more responsive and dignified over the past decade are now being tested. The question facing communities is not whether these approaches work, but whether the systems behind them have the resources and infrastructure to continue adapting as needs evolve.
What this means for communities and organizations like Food Connect
Like many organizations working to address hunger and food access, Food Connect has had to adapt to this changing environment. We've streamlined our operations this year to ensure long-term sustainability while continuing to meet rising demand. Since recent federal policy changes, we’ve more than doubled the volume of our services, reaching 134% more people, delivering 118% more food, and transporting 117% more meals across the communities where we work.
But this isn't unique to Food Connect. Across the country, organizations are strengthening partnerships, sharing resources, redesigning programs, and investing in the infrastructure that allows food to move more reliably through their communities.
The lesson emerging from this moment is that food access depends on more than food procurement alone. It depends on transportation, trusted partnerships, local coordination, and organizations with the flexibility to respond as community needs change. Those systems often operate behind the scenes, but they determine whether food reaches the people who need it most.
What gives us hope
Despite the challenges outlined above, we're optimistic because communities have already demonstrated what works. The opportunity now is to protect and strengthen approaches that have made food access more responsive, dignified, and effective.
We see that every day in the farmers and food businesses making surplus food available, healthcare integrating food into care, and neighborhood organizations continuing to adapt and serve their communities despite unprecedented pressure.
What we need is continued investment in the strategies that work best: creating strong local partnerships, incorporating reliable transportation and logistics, following community-based organizations, fostering connections between agriculture and food access, and prioritizing solutions that give people choice and dignity in how they access food.
The challenges facing communities today are significant, but they are not unsolvable. The work ahead is ensuring that the infrastructure, partnerships, and resources behind effective food access systems are strong enough to meet this moment and prepared for whatever comes next.
That's the work Food Connect is committed to every day: strengthening the systems that connect food with the people who need it most.
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7/21/2026
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Copyright © 2023 Food Connect
Copyright © 2023 Food Connect
