‘We can’t afford the food:’ Military families call for action to address food insecurity

WASHINGTON — For more than a dozen years, the nonprofit group Operation Homefront has held holiday events for military families nationwide.

It’s a chance for kids to meet Santa while enjoying games and toys – and most importantly, it’s a place where military families can receive free groceries to prepare a holiday meal.

It comes as millions of service members and their families report not always having enough food.

We caught up with volunteers and military families at an Operation Homefront Holiday Meals event in Virginia.

“This is something that we can do to help,” said Anna Clark, a program coordinator with Operation Homefront. “As an enlisted spouse, ten years ago I went through the lines with [my son] being food insecure myself.”

According to a government study, roughly a quarter of active-duty service members have experienced some level of food insecurity.

“As a service member, been in ten years, I’ve been able to have support from this program multiple times,” said Army Staff Sgt. Carlisa Weatherspoon about Operation Homefront. “In reality, we need things like this. We need the assistance. We need the help.”

“We can’t afford the food,” said Eleanor Haack, a military spouse. “Inflation’s happened. We’re moving all the time. We can’t get the resources that we need... This is not something we should be dealing with.”

Efforts on Capitol Hill this month show signs of potential progress.

Congress passed a change in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2024 that aims to expand access to food assistance by changing the way eligibility is calculated for some cases.

It comes down to separating the money military families receive for housing from the Basic Needs Allowance (BNA), which provides food assistance, because the housing allowance can sometimes prevent them from being eligible for help with food.

“The FY24 NDAA increases the number of service members and military families who may qualify for the Basic Needs Allowance (BNA) by authorizing the Secretaries of the military departments to exclude the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) from their gross household income in certain instances,” said a memo with the House Armed Services Committee.

Advocacy groups for military families argue more work still needs to be done.

“We’ve asked Congress to eliminate BAH from BNA eligibility calculations, a simple fix that would expand the number of struggling military families who can access this much-needed assistance,” said the National Military Family Association. “Unfortunately, Congress has again stopped short of making this change. Instead, the NDAA allows the service secretaries to exclude BAH in cases of ‘demonstrated need.’ We will push the DoD to interpret this guidance as broadly as possible to help ensure that more military families receive the assistance they need.”

It’s an ongoing push meant to make sure military families don’t go hungry.

“It should not be up to food lines to provide food for these families,” said Alice Silver, a military spouse.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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