On Thanksgiving, many military families sit down to an empty table. It's unconscionable.

Last week, I decided to beat the Thanksgiving rush by shopping at my local grocery store outside Washington, D.C., where my active-duty spouse is stationed. As I inched closer to the checkout stand, a pit grew in my stomach. 

I had forgotten to check if I had enough money for groceries.

Our finances have been tighter since I left my government job a few months ago. Until now, we did not need a joint account, so we kept putting off a trip to the bank.

We are between orders, waiting to learn where we will move next and when. These critical missing details make finding a new position difficult. 

So like many military families whose spouses experience employment-related challenges, we are now relying on one income. The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics does not regularly track the military spouse unemployment rate, but surveys show that it's about 20%. 

As the cashier scanned each item, I rushed to retabulate prices in my head. Was my math correct? Would I have enough to cover the bill? Which items could we do without? The final beep of the checkout gun confirmed what I suspected. I was over budget. Darn, that pesky dyscalculia always made math tough.

I sheepishly handed back the items I could not purchase and hurriedly bagged my groceries while avoiding looks of pity and judgment from the other customers. At that moment, I got a glimpse into what roughly 25% of the military families who experience food insecurity face: anxiety-riddled shopping trips, bare or sparse cupboards, and the underlying shame of not being able to feed your family adequately.

What is food insecurity?

Situations like my recent grocery trip illustrate that for military families, particularly those on one income and/or residing in a high-cost-of-living area such as the nation’s capital, a breadwinner’s earnings might not be enough to bring home the bacon.

To reduce the number of military families who struggle with food insecurity, we must first understand precisely how the term is defined and why service members and their families experience it. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as “the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.” 

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USDA measures food security and insecurity on a spectrum – with high food security meaning a household had no issues with or anxieties about consistently accessing an adequate amount of food, and very low food security indicating that at points throughout the year, eating patterns of one or more members of a household were interrupted or consumption was reduced because of a lack in resources to acquire sustenance.

In 2020, Congress ordered the Pentagon to research food insecurity among service members and their families. Using USDA’s guidelines, researchers from the RAND Corporation determined that the Army has the highest number of food-insecure service members. 

Researchers also found that early to mid-career enlisted personnel represent the largest component of the active-duty force and are the most food-insecure segment of the military population. 

Perhaps most concerning, service members and their families encounter multiple barriers to qualifying and accessing food assistance programs and rarely take advantage of these valuable social services. 

Congress and the Pentagon must combat food insecurity

Like the obstacles the military-connected community has confronted when accessing mental health services, career-conscious service members are concerned about the stigma of enrolling in programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or visiting community-based resources like food pantries.

In a culture that prides itself on self-sufficiency and secrecy, asking for help can still be perceived as a weakness in the military. 

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While the Pentagon’s report to Congress could not determine the exact root cause of military food insecurity, because it occurs sporadically and chronically, findings suggest that fluctuations in household income, namely the loss of spousal income and spousal unemployment, are major contributing factors. 

RAND survey data showed that service members who reported food-related challenges were 10 percentage points more likely to be without a second income.  

Although I am unemployed, and the episode at the grocery store was unsettling, we are fortunate it was an anomaly rather than our daily reality. I can start my job search when we receive orders after the holidays, and I hope unemployment is temporary.

While it is an adjustment to live on one income and dig into our savings, I recognize that my spouse and I are more privileged than some military families. I can only imagine the pain that those who regularly experience food insecurity feel. 

As millions of Americans prepare for a bountiful feast this Thursday, it is unconscionable that some who wear our country’s uniform and their families might not have the means to celebrate this season of abundance. 

Congress and the Pentagon must continue to study food insecurity and devise solutions to combat it. America cannot maintain its national security while battling food insecurity among its ranks. 

Melissa A. Sullivan is a military spouse and a former spokesperson for a federal agency. Her writing has been featured at The Washington Post, the Military Times and The War Horse.