Food Insecurity in the Military
Food insecurity affects too many military families. Factors like comparatively low pay for junior enlisted personnel, high costs of living, and PCS moves that force military spouses to seek new employment all contribute to food insecurity in the ranks.
The Department of Defense (DoD) and other organizations provide support through food assistance and educational programs to achieve long-term food security. We examine the issues and resources below.
Understanding the Scope and Impact of Military Food Insecurity
Food insecurity is the lack of reliable access to food. A 2021 study found that 1 in 8 active-duty military families experienced food insecurity. Particularly vulnerable? Junior enlisted families.
A study from 2024 titled, Comparing Food Insecurity Among the U.S. Military and Civilian Adult Populations by Matthew P. Rabbitt and Matthew R. Beymer gets right to the point:
“Readiness is a cornerstone of military service. Military readiness includes cognitive and physical abilities to train and execute missions.” The study notes that “food security is either directly or indirectly associated with cognitive function and body mass index.”
Therefore, “food security is vital to maintaining military readiness. While no analyses have been conducted to date on the prevalence of food insecurity for a representative sample of the active duty U.S. military, studies of individual military installations have demonstrated food insecurity rates between 15 percent and 33 percent…”
Read next: Comprehensive Military Benefits Guide
DoD and Military Resources
Military families facing food insecurity can turn to the following resources:
- Military OneSource: This resource offers information and support services, including counseling, financial counseling, and referrals to local resources for food assistance.
- Basic Needs Allowance: This allowance provides financial assistance to low-income service members.
- Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA): The commissary system provides groceries at reduced prices and offers budget-friendly meal ideas.
Military families can also access community and national resources:
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): SNAP provides financial assistance to low-income families for purchasing food.
- Feeding America: This network of food banks supports communities across the country.
An Urgent Issue
How does the Pentagon view this issue? The United States Secretary of Defense has said that access to nutritious and affordable food is critical to maintaining force readiness and morale. But in the meantime, troops in our all-volunteer military are still going hungry.
In 2021, one DoD official went on the record noting that the Defense Department requires “our service members and their families to basically go where they need to go live, give up jobs for spouses,” adding, “…we ask an awful lot of our families, and especially our children who have to move from place to place.”
“Shouldn’t we provide them with the very best care that we can? A military family should not have any challenges with food.”
Read next: Comprehensive Military Benefits Guide
What is the DoD Doing to Combat Food Insecurity Among Military Families?
A DoD “Taking Care of Our People” memorandum dated September 2024 includes the following measures meant to provide increased economic stability (and presumably reduced food insecurity as a result) for military families:
- Economic Security: “The Department has made significant investments in economic security for our Service members and their families,” including “a cumulative 9.8 percent pay raise over the past two years and the proposed 4.5 percent pay raise in the President’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget request.”
- Basic Allowance for Housing: Rates have been increased by an average of 18 percent over the 2022 rates at the time of the memorandum.
- Commissary Prices: The DoD has directed the Defense Commissary Agency “to achieve a global savings of at least 25 percent compared to commercial grocery stores.”
- PCS Moves: The Department has expanded the maximum number of days for which Service members may receive Temporary Lodging Expenses, increased the Dislocation Allowance, and authorized reimbursement to Service members for the cost of relocating pets during any Permanent Change of Station (PCS) after January 1, 2024.
- Supporting Military Spouses: “Frequent moves make it harder for military spouses to find good jobs, maintain professional momentum, and excel in their own careers. We are deeply committed to making it easier for military spouses to find…employment that meets their financial and professional needs and goals.” To that end, the DoD “has expanded programs such as the My Career Advancement Account (MyCAA) and the career accelerator.”
There are caveats. The Military Officers Association of America notes, “After the creation of the Basic Needs Allowance (BNA) in the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act and its improvement in the FY 2023 NDAA, many military families across the nation believed their struggles to put food on the table were over.”
That same MOAA article notes, “Unfortunately, much like its predecessor, the Family Supplemental Subsistence Allowance (FSSA), the program is failing to reach those who need it most.”
More can be done to help troops facing food insecurity. According to MOAA, only 3,000 servicemembers were receiving that allowance as of February 2024, and “the profile of the average recipient is a junior enlisted member with seven dependents.”
Other Food Insecurity Resources
- National School Lunch Program: NSLP is a federally assisted meal program in public and nonprofit private schools and residential childcare institutions.
- Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children
- WIC provides food, health care referrals, and education for low-income mothers and children (up to age 5.)
- Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program for Children: This program provides grocery benefits to low-income families with school-aged children when schools are seasonally closed.
- Food and Nutrition Service for Military and Veteran Families: Providing nutrition resources for military and veteran families.
- Women, Infants, and Children Overseas Program: WIC overseas is a DOD effort for eligible civilian employees, DOD contractors, military and family members.
Read next: Comprehensive Military Benefits Guide
About the author
Editor-in-Chief Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
