Food Insecurity among Immigrant Populations in the United States

As households immigrate to the United States, persistent food preferences or challenges in producing desired foods may affect their ability to achieve food security. Alternatively, some immigrants may excel in their new environment allowing them to be more food secure than their native counterparts. Using the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement, we compare food security levels between Chinese, Indian, Mexican, and West African immigrant households with matched native households. We find that immigrants from Mexico and West Africa are less food secure than their native counterparts, whereas immigrants from China and India are more food secure. We demonstrate how these findings are the result of immigrant selection which favors certain groups.