The number of people facing food insecurity in Pennsylvania is increasing, and experts say that number is only going to continue to rise
That is just one of the findings experts told state lawmakers during a policy hearing on Friday in Pittsburgh.
While the reasons vary, it’s impacting residents from the farm to the family dinner table.
“Uncertainty and tariffs,” said Wendell Young, the president of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 1776.
“You have supply chains that have been disrupted,” added Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding.
According to several food industry experts, lawmakers, and those combating food insecurity, the result is the same.
“1.7 million Pennsylvanians don’t have enough food to meet their nourishment needs,” said Julie Bancroft, CEO of Feeding Pennsylvania. “More than half a million children are food insecure.”
Bancroft is one of several individuals who contributed to a Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing on how to lower consumer grocery costs.
“Grocery prices have increased 33% between 2019 and 2026; that’s the largest gap in 30 years,” she explained.
She said those increases are forcing more Pennsylvania residents to rely on food banks. Officials said private entities tasked with feeding the hungry are already stressed to the limit due to federal cuts in programs such as SNAP.
“It was never designed to replace the scale of federal administration programs,” she said.
“Government support of our food bank has decreased from 34% to 21% of total annual pounds since 2024,” added Colleen Young of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
Adding to the growing crisis, experts said, are events like the wars in Ukraine and Iran, which have only increased the financial stressors on getting what food is available to food distribution centers
“The cost to ship a truckload of food from Pennsylvania to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank last year was $1,400; that same truck now costs $1,755 to get across the state,” Young said.
