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Food Insecurity and Food Resource Utilization in an Urban Immigrant Community

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Abstract

Risk and prevalence of food insecurity and use of food security resources are important but incompletely understood factors in immigrant health. Key informant interviews and a survey (N = 809) of housing units were conducted in a San Diego, California neighborhood with a high proportion of immigrant and low income families. The difference in food insecurity between immigrant and non-immigrant households was non-significant (20.1 vs. 15.7 %, p = n.s.), though immigrant families were more likely to use food security resources such as SNAP (32.7 vs. 22.9 %, p < .01) and food pantries (28.2 vs. 19.7 %, p < .001). Among immigrants, neither national origin nor years in the United States predicted food insecurity or use of most food security resources. In immigrant families, food insecurity often remains a challenge long after immigration, suggesting a potentially increasing need for food security resources as immigration into the United States continues.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, 650 Childs Way, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA

    Howard P. Greenwald

  2. San Diego, CA, USA

    Vanessa Zajfen

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  1. Howard P. Greenwald
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  2. Vanessa Zajfen
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Correspondence to Howard P. Greenwald.

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Greenwald, H.P., Zajfen, V. Food Insecurity and Food Resource Utilization in an Urban Immigrant Community. J Immigrant Minority Health 19, 179–186 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0331-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0331-9

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