This research was conducted with input and guidance from the Hunger Free San Diego advisory board, a collaboration of agencies facilitated by San Diego Hunger Coalition.

1 in 4 people in San Diego County is nutrition insecure.

San Diego Hunger Coalition estimates that, as of September 2023, 1 in 4 (25%) San Diegans experience nutrition insecurity, or are unable to provide three, nutritious meals per day for themselves and/or their families.

Out of the 830,000 total people estimated to be nutrition insecure in San Diego County, 214,000 of them are children, 170,000 are older adults (age 60+), and 141,000 of them are living with disabilities.

Food Assistance: The hunger relief sector provided 28 million meals in food assistance in September.

In September 2023, the hunger relief sector in San Diego County provided almost 28M million meals across all programs, meeting 77% of the estimated need for food assistance.

Of the 28M meals that were provided in September, 13M meals came from CalFresh, followed by school meals, food banks and pantries, the last round of Pandemic EBT, the WIC program, and meals for older adults. The pie chart below shows the breakdown in more detail.

Meal Gap: Another 8.5M meals would have been needed for a nutrition secure region

Including the last round of pandemic-era benefits in P-EBT 4.0, which was distributed in Q3 and provided an estimated 7.6M meals ($35M), the county was still short by 8.5M meals in September.

Looking ahead, the permanent Summer EBT program will have a major impact on the county’s food assistance output in summer months starting in 2024. Hunger Coalition estimates that Summer EBT will provide between 1-2M monthly meals to families in need starting next summer, making up some of the meals lost when school is not in session.

The Hunger Coalition has also identified an additional 241,000 people who are likely eligible for CalFresh but not yet enrolled, showing great potential to reduce the 2024 meal gap by increasing CalFresh participation. Enrolling all eligible families is the best way to decrease hunger and mitigate the effects of the loss of the temporary federal programs as providers struggle to keep up with the increased need. For more information on where likely eligible populations are and for CalFresh utilization numbers, please visit www.sdhunger.org/maps-tables.

Nutrition Security and Equity

Nutrition insecurity disproportionately impacts those who are Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color. The nutrition insecurity rates of these communities were all above the average.

  • 31% of the Native population

  • 19% of the White population

  • 21% of the Asian population

  • 33% of the Hispanic/Latinx population (across all nationalities)

  • 36% of the Black population

Additional analysis of the nutrition insecure population shows that  Hispanic/Latino people make up 33% of the county population, yet they constitute 50% of the nutrition insecure population, which is the largest disparity by race/ethnicity in our region.

Methodology

These estimates come from SDHC’s analysis of the estimated population at risk of nutrition insecurity. We define this population as households with incomes below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) ($60,000 for a family of 4). For the meal gap calculations, we track food assistance data gathered from local agencies and nonprofit partners, with ongoing recommendations from the Hunger Free San Diego Advisory Board. Our detailed methodology can be found at the top of this page.