ABSTRACT
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity presented a threat to health outcomes for communities of color. The disproportional onslaught of COVID has exacerbated the food insecurity and health burden experienced by communities of color. The pandemic has revealed deeply race-ingrained inequities exemplified in economic inequities such as low levels of asset ownership, housing instability, and weak attachment to jobs that pay decent wages. In this essay, we use the framework of layered vulnerabilities to better understand the multiple factors that contribute to food insecurity and health outcomes in general as well as the cumulative effects of COVID. We conclude by highlighting the role of black churches as a community resource that mitigates food insecurity and the effects of such insecurity on black communities.
