Gaps in Food Access During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Massachusetts

From October 2020 to January 2021, The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), using an online survey company, surveyed over 3,000 Massachusetts adults to obtain timely data on food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. We oversampled low-income adults in order to hear from those most likely in need of food assistance and used statistical methods to obtain estimates representative of the Massachusetts population.

The survey, funded by the Hunger to Health Collaboratory and Stop & Shop, conducted by GBFB in collaboration with the National Food Access and COVID Research Team (NFACT, nfactresearch.org), was undertaken to:

1. Identify the prevalence of food insecurity
2. Identify gaps and disparities in food assistance use
3. Develop data-driven recommendations to ensure that all have adequate access to food