It’s the season of abundance: While the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers are probably gone, local families are planning parties and holiday meals. But many Central Florida families will be left out this year — with a growing number worried about affording enough food for daily consumption, let alone feasts.

That’s due to a double-sided pinch. Food prices are going up, in an area that already saw higher-than-average grocery bills. And average weekly paychecks are trailing national benchmarks in a region that already lagged behind, despite a bump in the state-ordered minimum wage.

The bottom line: More Floridians can’t afford meals that meet their nutritional needs.

Do our leaders care?

This should be a cause for shame, and a call for urgent action. But the national and state response has been sluggish. A 2024 Farm Bill, which includes the SNAP program (often known as food stamps) and the Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children (known as WIC), still awaits approval as industries jockey for advantageous language. But one baffling change seems to have widespread support: The new bill will likely include a $30 billion cut in SNAP funding from the current version, which expired in September.

That squeeze is calculated into an assumption that the cost of food, as calculated in the legislation’s “thrifty food plan,” will actually go down. Yes, down. That’s simply not realistic, and Congress knows it. Yet there seems to be little concern for a cut that the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities claims will be the largest food-assistance cut in 30 years.

In Florida, the struggles were amplified by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to reject federal funding for emergency food assistance, including $250 million targeted to families with children.

We don’t get it. The obligation to feed the hungry is recognized throughout human history, dating back to biblical times. Yet our virtue-signaling leaders don’t see it as a priority. And we can see the results right here in our communities.

By the numbers

There are plenty of ways to measure the need. The journal Consumer Affairs reported that Floridians spend, on average, 14% of their household income on food, making it the 12th most costly state in the nation (with Miami leading the nation with the highest grocery costs). A March survey by No Kid Hungry found that 72% of Floridians found it more difficult to afford groceries than in 2023 — that includes 60% of households with earnings between $50,000 and $99,000. They employ multiple strategies, including shopping at multiple grocery stores or cutting their spending on expensive but nutritious food such as protein and fresh vegetables.

For many families with children, seniors struggling on fixed income and people experiencing homelessness, even that is not enough.

According to the advocacy group Feeding America, more than 531,000 people (including more than 155,000 children) went hungry in Brevard, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia in 2022, the last year for which comprehensive statistics are available. And it’s getting worse: Derrick Chubbs, president and CEO of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, wrote in a September op-ed that rising food prices are driving ever-increasing rates of what the federal government blandly describes as “food insecurity.”

And that takes a toll that is hard to calculate: “Hunger is much more than an empty stomach,” Chubbs wrote. “It’s an impossible dilemma that casts a shadow over every aspect of your life.” The agency helps provide more than 300,000 meals a day, distributing food to 750 area food pantries, congregate meal sites, shelters, senior centers and other programs.

Across the region, we’ve seen some private donors responding to the need with increased giving, but many local charities say they still run out of food on a regular basis. Add to that the difficulty many low-income families face in accessing those sources of generosity, due to lack of transportation or inability to get off work during the hours that accessible food pantries are open.

Central Florida’s more fortunate households have the ability to make a difference: Even as they plan their own holiday feasts, they can donate money to food charities or drop canned goods and other staples off at myriad collection points including churches, drop boxes in grocery stores and other locations. Corporations can plan their last strategic bursts of charitable giving as well.

But during this season of giving, Floridians should consider an addition to the fundraising — and raise their voices. Let national and state leaders know that in this land of abundance, every American deserves basic protection against starvation. Food is a fundamental human right, and denying it is a stain on the nation’s conscience.

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The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com.

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