From Gaza to SNAP, US Food Policies Are Making Women Hungrier

This election, hunger weighs heavily on the ballot—particularly for voters who care about women. From Gaza to Cuba, from USAID to SNAP, current U.S. food policies reveal a troubling pattern of misogyny.

Food abounds in U.S. agricultural systems, yet our food, farming and food aid policies deliberately deprive people in need of nourishment—with women, particularly women of color, bearing much of the burden. The recent wave of U.S. policies cutting food assistance and intensifying existing sanctions forms a pattern that, if unchecked, threatens to spread.

In 2024, amid mounting warnings about intentional starvation in Gaza, eight humanitarian organizations released a Gaza Scorecard assessing Israel’s compliance with humanitarian access demands issued by the Biden administration. The independent assessment found conclusive evidence that Israel had failed to meet those demands—instead, blocking lifesaving food and water from entry into Gaza Strip and lethally targeting food aid workers and seekers.

The Women’s Refugee Commission found that restrictions on food assistance in Gaza disproportionately harmed women and girls, who face heightened risks of hunger, starvation and exclusion from aid distribution.