Pod Insights Short Wave SNAP Delays: The Science Of Hunger And Food Insecurity About this episode One in every eight households in the U. S. isn’t always sure where the next meal will come from. Limited food access can spell hunger – and that can affect the body and mind. So can cheaper, less nutritious foods. Hunger has a huge impact on individuals – and whole societies. It can mean shorter term issues like trouble focusing, as well as longer term mental health and physical struggles like chronic disease and social isolation. Host Regina G Barber https://www.npr.org/people/1082526815/regina-g-barberspeaks with experts looking at the impacts of food insecurity – from the known tolls and misconceptions to ways to bridge the gap. If you liked this show, check out our episode on loneliness and the brain https://www.npr.org/2023/12/08/1198908816/lonely-brain-neuroscience-of-loneliness. To learn about ways you can find free or low-cost food, check out NPR’s Life Kit episode on the topic https://www.npr.org/2025/11/11/nx-s1-5599147/9-strategies-to-find-free-or-low-cost-food-when-money-is-tight. Interested in more public health or human biology stories? Email us your question at [email protected] mailto:[email protected] . Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave http://plus.npr.org/shortwave.
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0:18 Regina Barber? You're listening to Short Wave from NPR.
0:23 Regina Barber? Earlier this month, the government shutdown led to a two-week pause in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, putting 42 million people in the US at further risk of food insecurity.
0:34 Speaker 02 Many Americans are one check away, potentially, from experiencing some level of poverty.
0:43 Regina Barber? Out of every eight homes, including yours, one of those households isn't always sure when their next meal will come.
0:50 Speaker 02 I think many times, we think about people and, you know, it's like, oh, that'll never be me.
0:57 Regina Barber? That's nutritional scientist Angela Odoms Young from Cornell University. And she says food insecurity can push a lot of families to make less healthy choices.
1:06 Speaker 02 When the food is available, people eat. But when food is not available, they have to make different choices.
1:13 Regina Barber? As the director of the New York State Nutrition Education Program, she knows that might mean less nutrition and reaching for highly processed foods that are cheap and shelf-stable instead of fresh fruit and vegetables that could go to waste.
1:27 Regina Barber? And with food insecurity often comes hunger. Hunger serves the essential purpose of getting us energy. And when we can't alleviate that hunger, dietitian Shauna Spence says our whole body reacts.
1:39 Speaker 03 Whenever we're thinking of our bodies, we have to think of it as a machine. And whenever you think of a machine, you think of, quote unquote, feeding it, right? Oil, right? The maintenance that goes into it. And when you don't do those things, it stops working. It breaks down. And unfortunately, our bodies are the same way.
1:57 Regina Barber? From trouble focusing and impacting your mental health to longer-term issues like chronic disease and social isolation, hunger has a huge impact on individual people and whole societies. That's why Angela says it's a fallacy to think that just because you don't face food insecurity now, you won't feel its impacts later.
2:17 Regina Barber? Today on the show, food insecurity in the US and what hunger does to the body mentally, physically, and over the long term. I'm Regina Barber, and you're listening to Short Wave, the science podcast from NPR.
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3:58 Regina Barber? The United States is known by many as the land of abundance. We have large portions, a variety of cuisines, and grocery stores of all sizes. But Shauna Spence says it's a misconception that all areas of the US are equally abundant.
4:13 Speaker 03 A lot of times when you're in a big city, people assume there are so many grocery stores and people can just walk into any places and just buy food, and that's not necessarily true. Even here in New York, we do have food deserts.
4:29 Regina Barber? A food desert is a term that was coined in the 1990s in the UK to describe neighborhoods that had limited access to nutritious and affordable food. The USDA added nuances to the definition over time to note that people most affected by deserts were low-income, and then to refocus on the issue of what kinds of food are available for certain communities. Because food insecurity is more than just certain foods being out of people's price range, it also sometimes refers to the lack of options available at your local corner store. Like, do you have a ton of fruit and vegetables and slabs of meat? Or are you only able to get canned goods?
5:05 Speaker 03 So our body needs all three macronutrients, which are protein, carbohydrates, and fat, right? Healthy fats. And so, a lot of times, yes, a lot of processed foods, the ones that they sell in like bodegas or delis, are going to be heavy in carbs.
5:23 Regina Barber? Yeah.
5:24 Speaker 03 But a lot of times, these snacks, the low-nutrient-dense foods, they're not going to be heavy in something like protein, something like fiber, or even like the healthy fats. So that's when people are missing out on nutrients, even the micronutrients, like our vitamins and minerals. Those are also going to be missing as well.
5:46 Regina Barber? To stay healthy, our bodies need protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and even fats in a healthy balance. These faster, cheaper, and sometimes better-tasting foods are often less nutrient-dense and make it harder to reach those nutrient goals. But sometimes they're the only option. So what happens to our body when it's hungry? According to Roger Figueroa, a nutritional behavioral scientist at Cornell University.
6:11 Speaker 06 As food insecurity gets worse, people can start experiencing hunger.
6:17 Regina Barber? That's when the ghrelin hits.
6:19 Speaker 06 There is this hormone known as ghrelin that is produced by the stomach. And it's known as the hunger hormone, stimulates appetite. And it sends a signal to the brain that it is time to eat. So typically, when someone is hungry, the levels go up. And if you're full, luckily, then the levels drop.
6:39 Regina Barber? When those levels get out of whack and stay elevated, the long-term physical effects can become serious.
6:45 Speaker 03 The longer we go without food, the worse our symptoms are going to be, right? So that irritability and lightheadedness seems nothing in comparison to the signs of malnourishment. You know, definitely losing a lot of muscle, you know, that gaunt look in the face.
7:05 Regina Barber? That's linked to chronic conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Malnourishment can also hurt child development. Not getting enough nutrients can stunt growth, weaken their immune system, lower bone density, and delay cognitive development. Some studies have also linked it to infertility in adults. And there's a mental toll, which can start with stress. Elevated cortisol levels from bargaining with yourself about your expenses, stretching your medicine or running your air conditioning less, maybe even skipping rent to afford food. The stress of having to make these decisions can package itself into our mental health conditions, too.
7:43 Speaker 03 Anxiety, depression, there's also probably trauma. You know, a lot of times that PTSD can also have an effect if we're just used to going without food. That definitely can take a toll.
7:56 Regina Barber? And if that wasn't enough, anxiety, depression, and PTSD are all linked with loneliness. And you may have heard us say before, the United States is in the midst of a loneliness epidemic. Angela says food scarcity. Can be another layer.
8:12 Speaker 02 Food anxiety. So we think about what happens with the stress process and cortisol and other things that when people are trying to make ends meet, the household stress that goes along with that, potentially the social isolation that goes along with that. Social isolation was deemed one of the most significant public health issues in the US.
8:37 Regina Barber? I don't know about you, but until this episode, I had not fully considered the extent to which my social life is centered around food. But when I want to catch up with a friend, we go out for a meal. I want to celebrate my kid's birthday. I throw a party for her and her friends and grill in the backyard. I sometimes go to happy hour with coworkers. I treat myself to a fancy meal out with my partner when I've had a rough week. None of that can happen if I can't afford my next meal. And Shauna says the trauma of food insecurity in childhood can lead to eating disorders later in life. That even when presented with healthy options in adulthood, that unhealthy relationship with food can carry over.
9:16 Speaker 03 They can still choose to maybe hold out on meals because of that trauma from childhood. They don't feel comfortable eating fully from childhood.
9:27 Regina Barber? Anorexia, binging, overeating because you couldn't before. Shauna says the size of somebody's body does not tell the whole story.
9:36 Speaker 03 Malnourishment doesn't have, I should say, a look. This happened when I used to work in clinical. We get people, you know, in larger bodies and they would, you know, be malnourished, but they don't have that gaunt look in their face. They don't have, you know, the withering body and they're dismissed. However, they're not, their bodies are still deteriorating, believe it or not, because they're not getting access to those macronutrients like good source of protein, good source of carbohydrates, fat.
10:08 Regina Barber? And Roger says there are other negative impacts of food insecurity.
10:12 Speaker 06 From a social standpoint, food insecurity also can lead to feelings of embarrassment and social withdrawal, especially because the Solutions we have in place often are not the most sensitive or inclusive. People may not feel like they are sort of embedded within the fabric of society that normalizes food access. Often, the efforts that we do have can perpetrate the stigma associated with receiving free food or food that's affordable to individuals with low income.
10:46 Regina Barber? Both Roger and Shauna told me that hunger is everywhere. It could affect your neighbor, your kid's roommate, your friends, or even you after some unforeseen event. Like when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, food insecurity increased. We're still technically in the pandemic, and food insecurity is getting worse in the US. So what can be done? Angela Odom's Young, nutritional scientist from earlier, says everyone needs to think of hunger differently.
11:14 Speaker 02 It's not only one group. You know, non-urban, urban, it's all of us. It's not political, even though policy is a driver of it. But we need to really remember, this is an American issue. It's not a one side or, you know, this is an overall issue.
11:35 Regina Barber? Food insecurity affects every state in the US. From 2021 to 2023, the highest prevalence rates of households who were food insecure were in Arkansas at 19%, followed by Texas at 17%. The national average in 2023 was 13.5%.
11:52 Speaker 02 This is an issue that can impact society generally, and the consequences can impact society. And so it's important that we come together, from my perspective, and support families and individuals to make sure that they have enough to eat.
12:11 Regina Barber? Then I asked her, what does that mean for you or me? Anyone listening to this podcast who may want to translate all of the science and theory into tangible action.
12:21 Speaker 02 Volunteer work is critical, and we need more young people because a lot of that burden falls on older, you know, people in churches and faith-based settings that are doing distribution. But young people can really participate in that. And so, yes, volunteer, volunteer, volunteer.
12:45 Regina Barber? With the pause in SNAP benefits, there's lingering uncertainty in the community of recipients. Some worry it may be taken away again, which adds to the stress and anxiety around food insecurity that they may already be feeling.
13:02 Regina Barber? If you liked the show, check out our episode on loneliness and the brain. To learn more about the ways you can find free and low-cost food, check out NPR's Life Kit episode on the topic. We'll link to both of these episodes in our show notes.
13:18 Regina Barber? This episode was produced by Burleigh McCoy. It was edited by our showrunner, Rebecca Ramirez, and Tyler Jones checked the facts. Robert Rodriguez was the audio engineer. Beth Donovan is our vice president for podcasting. I'm Regina Barber. Thank you for listening to Short Wave from NPR.
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