About 33.8 million Americans didn't have adequate access to food, according to the latest report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Food inflation, as we've seen during the pandemic, has gone up, driven in large part by supply chain disruptions and shortages of food supply during the pandemic," according to Erika Thiem, chief supply chain officer at the nonprofit Feeding America. Food deserts, where access to affordable and healthy foods is limited, have also been widely blamed as a major cause of hunger in the U.S. He continued, "it's food prices that matter, not food access." "I think part of this is how problems compound problems," according to Stacy Dean, deputy under secretary at the USDA.

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Persons: we've, Erika Thiem, Catherine D'Amato, Craig Gundersen, Stacy Dean Organizations: U.S . Department of Agriculture, That's, America, Greater Boston Food Bank, U.S, Baylor University, National Bureau of Economic Research Locations: United States, Greater, U.S