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 March 2024, 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 840,000 total people estimated to be nutrition insecure in San Diego County, 216,000 of them are children, 172,000 are older adults (age 60+), and 143,000 of them are living with disabilities.

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

In March 2024, the hunger relief sector in San Diego County provided close to 28M million meals across all programs, meeting 80% of the estimated need for food assistance.

Of the 28M meals that were provided in March, 15.2M meals came from CalFresh, followed by school meals, food banks and pantries, the WIC program, and meals for older adults. The pie chart below shows the breakdown in more detail.

Meal Gap: Another 6.9M meals would have been needed for a nutrition secure region

Despite the millions of meals that came from food assistance in March, the county was still short by almost 6.9M meals, meaning thousands of families around the county went hungry during the month.

Looking ahead, the permanent Summer EBT program will have a major impact on the county’s food assistance output in months starting in June 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 212,000 people who are likely eligible for CalFresh but not yet enrolled, showing great potential to reduce the 2024 meal gap by increasing CalFresh participation. If all eligible people were enrolled in CalFresh, the meal gap in San Diego County would be erased.

Recent enrollment data also show that the county is making significant ground on CalFresh enrollment, as there are now more almost 30,000 more people enrolled than there were in Sept. 2023. 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 also disproportionately impacts Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color. The nutrition insecurity rates of these communities are all above the average, as can be seen below.

  • 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. Data on race/ethnicity is annual, currently estimating San Diego County in 2023.

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) ($62,000 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.