Parke Wilde is a food economist at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Previously, he worked for the Community Nutrition Institute and for USDA’s Economic Research Service. He received his Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Cornell University. At Tufts, Parke teaches graduate-level courses in statistics and U.S. food policy. His research addresses food security and hunger measurement, the economics of food assistance programs, and federal dietary guidance policy. Parke keeps a well-respected blog at usfoodpolicy.com and has a new book from Routledge/Earthscan in 2013, titled Food Policy in the United States: An Introduction.
USDA yesterday released its annual food security report, showing that 10.5% of U.S. households were food insecure in 2020. Surprisingly, the 2020 estimate was unchanged from 2019 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Observers expected the 2020 statistics to show a jump in household food insecurity.
The annual food security report uses data from a December food security supplement to the monthly Current