{"id":5058363,"date":"2020-06-23T14:09:07","date_gmt":"2020-06-23T14:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/malatinonews.com\/?p=5050627"},"modified":"2020-06-23T14:09:07","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T14:09:07","slug":"massachusetts-hispanic-latino-residents-facing-food-insecurity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/maln\/2020\/06\/23\/massachusetts-hispanic-latino-residents-facing-food-insecurity\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts Hispanic, Latino residents facing food insecurity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new poll released in June by the MassINC Polling Group finds 24-percent of Massachusetts residents say they have either struggled to provide food for their family or have sought the aid of a food bank since the coronavirus crisis began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food insecurity has affected vulnerable communities the hardest. According to CommonWealth Magazine, roughly half of Black and Hispanic, Latino residents (51 percent each) say they have struggled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Many of the cities and towns in the state hardest hit<\/a> by COVID-19 are Gateway Cities<\/a>. These cities already face economic challenges and many have a higher proportion of marginalized residents than Massachusetts overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Boston Indicators<\/a>, the cities and towns with the highest concentrations of Latinos are Boston (20% of the city population), Lawrence (77 percent of the city population), Chelsea (66 percent), Holyoke (50 percent), Springfield (42 percent) and Lynn (36 percent).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The consequences of the coronavirus crisis are heavily concentrated on the same people and groups, reports<\/a> WBUR. Younger people, people of color, renters, part-time and hourly workers, and people with lower income and education levels are already struggling with job losses, wage losses, food insecurity, and housing troubles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among those facing the most economic distress:<\/p>\n\n\n\n