If you’ve been following the news about the aftermath of 2018’s Camp Fire, then you’re aware that many survivors of the disaster are struggling with the effects of trauma, that the water in the town of Paradise is contaminated and that the existing housing shortage in Butte County was exacerbated with an overnight influx of 20,000 displaced residents of Paradise and surrounding communities. What you likely haven’t heard from local or national media is that on top of all these problems, many survivors are also struggling with food insecurity.

Before the Camp Fire, 18.2 percent of Butte County residents were food insecure in 2012, and 1 in 5 residents lived below the poverty line between 2009 and 2013, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Both of these percentages were higher than the state average, leaving us at NSPR wondering how many in the area are food insecure now, after tens of thousands of people were displaced from their homes.

Hunger is often silent, which is why you likely haven’t seen or heard these stories, but with the help of the USC Health Journalism Impact Fund, NSPR is taking a deeper look into whether or not the region is seeing a significant increase in food insecurity after the Camp Fire, how food insecurity is complicated by other issues survivors are facing — like trauma and increased travel times to school and work — and how this problem might be affecting various healing and health outcomes for survivors.