Science of Wellbeing: Hungry for Relief
What happens when your basic needs aren’t met for weeks, months, or years?
For many rural residents, that question isn’t hypothetical. It’s a lived reality. In our latest installment of the Science of Wellbeing we look at an article, Food Insecurity and Stress Among Rural Residents in South Carolina: The Moderating Influences of Household Characteristics, Neighborhood Social Environment and Food Environment, that attends to the the toll of food insecurity on the individual and the community.
How Food Insecurity Impacts Mental Health and Stress Levels
The study, surveyed 630 residents across nine rural counties in South Carolina during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its findings were striking:
Rural residents facing high food insecurity were 6 times more likely to report high levels of overall stress than those who were food secure/low levels of food insecurity.
They were also 3 times more likely to report a significant increase in stress since the start of COVID-19.
Even moderate food insecurity was linked with 3 times the likelihood of general stress and 2x the likelihood of increased stress since COVID-19.
Let that sink in. The stress of not knowing if you’ll have enough to eat compounds the everyday challenges of rural life creating a heavy burden on mental health.
What Protects Rural Communities from Stress?
Here’s where the study gives us hope. The combination of certain protective factors actually buffered the stress caused by food insecurity:
Stronger neighborhood social environments (like neighbors caring for each other, shared values, and trust) helped lessen the mental impact.
Ease of food access through fresh produce, farmers’ markets, or community support made a difference in overall stress levels.
When people feel connected to their communities and can reliably access nourishing food, their stress decreases. That is not to day it goes away completely, but it can make things a bit lighter mentally.
Unexpected Findings: Why Some Groups Reported Less Stress
One unexpected finding? Individuals who were widowed or divorced actually reported lower stress than those who were married. It’s possible that fewer caregiving burdens (like feeding children or managing a multi-person household) contributed to this, especially during the pandemic.
The study also found that Black residents reported lower increases in stress post-COVID compared to white residents suggesting the need for more research into racialized resilience, coping mechanisms, and community dynamics.
How We Can Respond: Community-Based Solutions
This study reinforces what many in the wellness, public health, and social service spaces already know:
Food insecurity is a systemic issue that deeply impacts mental health. Addressing its impacts means more than handing out food. It requires investigation of relationships, community capacity, and access.
It also calls us to ask deeper questions:
Are our communities structured to support collective resilience?
How can we strengthen social ties alongside improving food systems?
Where do we see opportunity to integrate mental health into our conversations about economic and food justice?
What You Can Do?
If you're a community leader, practitioner, educator, or advocate, consider this an invitation to take a holistic approach. Ask:
Can your food distribution programs include wellness checks or stress support?
Are you partnering with trusted community leaders to build cohesion?
Are your services systemically-informed and accessible to rural populations?
It’s time to move from charity to community-building. From temporary relief to sustainable support. Let’s build systems that feed our bodies and our well-being. And if this resonates, let us know because wellness shouldn’t depend on your ZIP code.