{"id":52061,"date":"2022-07-15T15:01:32","date_gmt":"2022-07-15T15:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/07\/15\/heres-dods-plan-to-help-the-24-of-troops-experiencing-food-insecurity\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:51:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:51:01","slug":"heres-dods-plan-to-help-the-24-of-troops-experiencing-food-insecurity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2022\/07\/15\/heres-dods-plan-to-help-the-24-of-troops-experiencing-food-insecurity\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s DoD\u2019s plan to help the 24% of troops experiencing food insecurity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

About 24% of active duty service members experienced food insecurity<\/a> at some point in 2020, according to a new Defense Department analysis of the problem in the military. And on Thursday, DoD officials laid out a plan to do something about that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials said in a new report that they will focus on helping service members and families get the food they need, while also improving their economic security over the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For longer term economic security of service members, officials will analyze the Basic Allowance for Housing benefit<\/a>; evaluate the feasibility of Dependent Care Flexible Spending accounts for service members; and review options to increase the dislocation allowance to further defray out-of-pocket costs<\/a> for service members during a permanent change of station move. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other efforts range from improving the availability of affordable, healthy food on military installations, to improving employment opportunities for military spouses and availability of affordable child care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials are also putting together a plan for implementing the new Basic Needs Allowance<\/a>, set to start in January 2023, as a safety net for families in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efforts also expand and build on many programs and resources that have been available for years, and part of the work will involve more outreach and education to troops and families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The focus of this strategy \u201cis to equip our service members and families with the tools, skills, and resources necessary to ensure they have access to sufficient nutritious food to meet the myriad demands of the military mission, without having to endure undue hardship or make difficult financial and personal decisions that may impact their quality of life,\u201d wrote Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr., under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, in the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Problems with financial security show up in a variety of ways, including food insecurity. Food insecurity is defined as a situation in which \u201ca person or a household doesn\u2019t have enough nutritious food to live an active, healthy life, and can range from relying on cheaper, less-nutritious foods to skipping meals,\u201d according to the report. There\u2019s also a difference between food security and hunger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHunger describes a physiological condition, while food security measures economic access to food rather than the experience of being hungry,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DoD officials have abandoned their previous method for determining the prevalence of food insecurity in the military, which used the percentage of service members enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program \u2014 also previously known as food stamps. The 13th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation completed in 2020 reported that between 0.08% and 0.1% of service members \u2014 between 880 and 1,100 members \u2014 use SNAP benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new analysis comes from the survey of active duty members, fielded from Oct. 26, 2020, through Jan. 25, 2021, which asked questions related to their experience over the previous 12 months, using the standardized U.S. Department of Agriculture measure of food security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That survey was fielded to a random, representative sampling of 125,000 active duty members. The response rate was 12%. It was fielded in the first year of the pandemic, and also before the current high levels of food inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analysis of the 2020 Status of Forces Survey of Active Duty Members showed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n