Of those surveyed, their concern isn’t only for themselves: 58 percent of respondents globally are parents, and for those who have experienced food insecurity, 88 percent are worried their child will have lasting health effects as a result of food insecurity during the pandemic. Therefore, 70 percent are worried their child is not getting all the nutrients they need — as a result of not having access to school meals while they are distance learning.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has some best practices for families to save money, help those who don’t have enough to eat, and conserve resources for future generations. By making a list of weekly meals and necessary ingredients, shoppers will buy less than they would otherwise and keep things fresh, with less waste. Also, checking the pantry and refrigerator before a grocery shopping trip can prevent buying duplicates of things you already have.

One fiscal argument for augmenting local food networks is to reduce the tremendous costs that fuel and labor add to shipping produce from distant sites, whether in urban areas like Detroit or rural regions of the country such as Alaska. “In some of our isolated villages in Alaska, families are having to choose between the price of heating oil and food,” reported Dave Monture, technical assistance specialist for the Intertribal Agriculture Council. He said the cost of milk in some areas has risen to $20 a gallon. 

All of the more than 47 million Americans, including 22 million children, who receive SNAP will see their food assistance reduced, when a modest boost in benefits to SNAP recipients, which policymakers included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to strengthen the economy and ease hardship, expires on Oct. 31. For a family of three, that cut will mean a reduction of $29 a month—$319 for the remaining 11 months of the fiscal year.

It is important to note that absolute scarcity doesn’t have to be on the horizon in any given resource category for this scenario to kick in. A lack of adequate supplies to meet the needs of a growing, ever more urbanized and industrialized global population is enough. Given the wave of extinctions that scientists are recording, some resources -- particular species of fish, animals, and trees, for example -- will become less abundant in the decades to come, and may even disappear altogether.