Rapid growth in food prices, reductions in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for some households, and the expiration of federal COVID-19 pandemic aid to households have coincided with increased food insecurity and placed persistent demands on the nation’s charitable food system. However, awareness of and comfort with using charitable food resources continues to be low among food-insecure households, indicating that those who could benefit most are not receiving the aid they need.

In this fact sheet, we analyze awareness of and comfort with using charitable food, using data from the Urban Institute’s Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey—a nationally representative, annual survey of approximately 7,500 adults ages 18 to 64. We compare trends between 2020 and 2022 and focus on those not accessing charitable food.

We find the following:

• Nearly one in five (18.3 percent) adults in households that did not use charitable food reported being food insecure in 2022.
• Three in five (60.5 percent) food-insecure adults who did not use charitable food in 2022 did not know of a community resource for charitable food), and 64.3 percent did not feel comfortable accessing these resources.
• Between 2021 and 2022, there were no significant changes in the shares of low-income and food-insecure adults reporting awareness of charitable food resources.