The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island, currently of three million people, which was ceded to the United States after the Spanish-American War. Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship in 1917. Its constitution, enacted in 1952, provides for internal self-government, and subsequent plebiscites supported continuation of that status. However, a 2020 referendum showed a narrow preference for statehood.

Puerto Rico is 94% urban, with its 2023 GDP equally split among industry, pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel, food products, tourism and services. 

10 Facts About Hunger in Puerto Rico

1. A Context for Hunger. Puerto Rico has been vulnerable to poverty and hunger, hit hard by COVID-19 (2020) and natural disasters such as Hurricanes Irma and Maria (2017), a 2020 earthquake, and Hurricane Fiona (2022). These challenges, combined with seven years of economic instability, including government bankruptcy, have deepened the crisis.
2. Poverty: Hunger’s Partner. Puerto Rico has experienced poverty of over 20% (“persistent poverty“) for more than five decades, with 43% of the population below the federal poverty level in 2021. Particularly affected have been children, women and residents of the rural highland (the country’s interior and most rural and mountainous region). This poverty is linked to insufficient economic activity and employment opportunities, “circumscribed by Puerto Rico’s political relationship with the United States.” A recent study by CENTRO, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, cites the sunset of IRS tax benefits for corporations doing business in Puerto Rico (2006) and the elimination of Puerto Rico’s comparative trade advantages (1989, 2005). 
3. Hurricanes and Food Insecurity. Food insecurity before the hurricanes (October 2017) was 30-60%, or 1.5 million people, with child food insecurity at 56%. After the hurricanes (2019), food insecurity was estimated to be at least 85%.
4. Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP). In lieu of the U.S.’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides assistance based on need, Puerto Rico receives food assistance to low-income households via NAP (Nutrition Assistance Program) through fixed-amount, capped block grants. The FY 2023 grant was $2.8 billion, serving approximately 1.4 million participants/month. NAP allows Puerto Rico to operate a Family Markets Program, whereby participants can receive an additional 4% in benefits to purchase local food products from nearby Family Markets; and the elderly population receives a 20% increase. The NAP grant was increased to over $2.9 billion for FY 2024.
5. Building on NAP. The FY 2024 plan of operations developed by the Socioeconomic Development Administration of Puerto Rico’s Department of the Family notes NAP’s focus not only on food purchase benefits but also on increasing nutrition, promoting healthy food habits and increasing and protecting overall health and well-being. The plan’s projected activities included continuing the development of the Family Markets and the NAP Purchases online programs. Among other initiatives is establishing a NAP call center, a Restaurant Means Program for NAP participants with special needs and the purchase of a new mobile unit.
6. Supplemental School Program. No Kid Hungry is preparing to close the “summer meal gap” in 2025 by providing meals for children when school is out.
7. Preparing for Food Emergencies. Self-described as the country’s “premier Latino nonprofit membership organization,” the Hispanic Foundation, founded in 1990, has been providing emergency hunger relief in Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria in 2017. The organization provided half a million dollars of nutritious food and water supplies to Puerto Rican communities suffering from 2022’s Hurricane Fiona. And in 2023, a new preparedness program was piloted to stock 23 community-managed kitchens in 20 municipalities with a three-day supply of nonperishable food.
8. Development as a Context for Reducing Hunger. Hunger Corps, despite its name, does not directly target hunger, but works in marginalized communities for a minimum of five years, “building homes, kickstarting small businesses, rebuilding schools and more.” Founded in Puerto Rico in 2012, and originally including projects in Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Honduras, Hunger Corps moved entirely to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
9. An Alternative to Food Banks. Súper Solidario Coop was founded in 2020 by a group of young people who had been distributing hot meals after Hurricane Maria. Described as a matter of “food sovereignty” rather than hunger or food insecurity, the Solidarity Supermarket has evolved into an “initiative for self-managed food distribution,” providing food at no charge to those below the poverty line. They now serve around 399 families/month through food-based initiatives, including the solidarity supermarket with a “health shelf” where people can select two medicines to take home. The solidarity supermarket also offers both fresh and warehouse goods at lower prices and free monthly delivery. Local businesses provide donations and customers can volunteer in exchange for goods. Federal and state funding—obtained as a social project—helps to cover administrative expenses. In addition, the facility is a community meeting place, often offering talks on health, diet, agriculture and mutual support.
10. Developing Agro-Entrepreneurship to Address Food Insufficiency. Borne out of the impact of Hurricane Maria, CAM (Circuito Agroempresarial Multisectoral) is a collaborative model for the increased production and consumption of fresh produce, training communities to develop market gardens that will be sustained through emergencies and climate phenomena. USDA has supported a Farm to School Expo for middle and high school, bringing together teachers, farmers (growers and producers) and buyers to address marketing, purchasing, local food product consumption, school gardens and curriculum integration. 

Puerto Rico Modeling Approaches to Hunger

While the extent of hunger in Puerto Rico is not as severe as in many other countries, it still has generated some creative approaches that might also serve other countries well.

– Staff Reports
Photo: Pixabay