Hungry and Underserved: Food Insecurity Among LGBTQ+ Adults in Massachusetts

Austin Waters, PhD, MSPH

Food insecurity or inconsistent or inadequate access to enough food for a healthy life is a well-documented social determinant of health. But it is not experienced equally across the population. Our new preliminary research using the Massachusetts Statewide Food Access Survey reveals a striking picture: in 2024, more than half of LGBTQ+ adults in the Commonwealth were food insecure, and many are not using the systems designed to help.

​A Persistent Disparity
Using data from 9,169 Massachusetts residents surveyed between 2022 and 2024, we measured food insecurity with the 10-item USDA Household Food Security Survey Module. Among LGBTQ+ adults, food insecurity rose from 45% in 2022 to 56% in 2024, significantly higher than non-LGBTQ+ adults each year. These numbers are staggering, though not entirely surprising. A 2017 Williams Institute analysis found that 26.7% of American LGBTQ+ adults experienced food insecurity in the prior year, roughly double the national average. Furthermore, LGBTQ+ adults are about twice as likely to experience poverty compared to non-LGBTQ+ adults, a direct consequence of the historical and ongoing discrimination and stigma that likely drives high rates of food insecurity.

Many Aren't Getting Help
Beyond measuring food insecurity, this study examines whether LGBTQ+ adults are using available assistance. In 2024, only one-third used food pantries, and fewer than half used SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). LGBTQ+ adults reported multiple barriers to pantry access more frequently than non-LGBTQ+ adults. For example, many pantries are housed in religious settings that haven't always been welcoming to LGBTQ+ people. Transgender and gender nonconforming individuals may face additional, concrete obstacles when applying for benefits if they are unable to receive accurate identification documents. More broadly, discrimination and stigma in housing, employment, and healthcare can make it harder to trust the systems meant to help. Even SNAP, which offers more privacy than visiting a pantry in person, poses barriers and proposed federal policy changes that would make access harder.

Why This Matters and What Can Be Done
Food insecurity isn't just about hunger; it has cascading effects across physical and mental health. The association of food insecurity with poor health outcomes, including mental illness and chronic diseases, has been well-documented, but research has increasingly called for closer examination of how food insecurity affects LGBTQ+ individuals specifically. Given that LGBTQ+ adults already face elevated rates of depression, anxiety, and other chronic conditions, the added burden of food insecurity is particularly dangerous for their health outcomes.
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Our forthcoming research findings show that addressing food insecurity among LGBTQ+ adults requires more than just making programs available. We need multi-level interventions that are designed with input from LGBTQ+ communities themselves to address the unique barriers they face and begin to minimize the burden of food insecurity in this population.

Author
Austin R. Waters is a postdoctoral fellow through the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Harvard LGBTQ Health Center of Excellence. He received his PhD in Health Policy and Management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research focuses on prevention, access, and outcomes among LGBTQ+ and adolescent and young adult (AYA) patient populations. The common threads of his research revolve around health equity, health-related social needs, economic instability, cost-related barriers to care, the influence of policy, and technology use.