More than half of people who visited an Ohio foodbank in the last year had to choose between paying for medicine or buying food. That’s according to a survey of foodbank visitors released by the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, which says there are other troubling findings in that report.
The report, done through electronic surveys in April and May, showed:
- 53% of households with a family member living with a chronic condition said they had to choose between buying medicine or food at least once during the year
- 57% of households had to choose between paying for utilities or food in the previous 12 months; that climbed to 65% for families with kids
- 52% reported at least one member of the household was forced to skip meals in the last year; among those, 59% had to skip meals every month
- 40% expected to rely on foodbanks or free meals more often in the next year; that went up to 52% for households with children
A total of 76% of households included a member living with a chronic illness or disability. Half of respondents said at least one member of the householder was employed during the previous 12 months. Among people in the other half of the pool of respondents, 48% said a household member couldn't work because of an illness or disability, 38% were retired and 11% were caregivers.
Ohio Association of Foodbanks executive director Joree Novotny said the survey was conducted to learn about the pressures visitors to foodbanks are dealing with.
"When you're facing a food budget shortfall, that's not the only pressure that your household is under," Novotny said in an interview. "So when you get to the point of 'I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to afford enough food today, tomorrow, this week'—it means that bills have come due."
She said it's especially hard for older Ohioans: “Around 1 in 5 or so of the folks that we're serving are over 60, so when they find themselves in our lines, they're not likely to be able to exit our lines."
Novotny said summer meal programs for kids help, but around half of those who visit foodbanks aren’t getting benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also called food stamps.
“Most of the time because their incomes are slightly too high to qualify for SNAP, and sometimes because the difficulty in applying and receiving eligibility and approval for SNAP," Novotny said. "Many of our older adults tell us that they don't participate because the benefit for them is so low.”
The Hunger in Ohio 2026 Study was done with confidential electronic surveys from 2,644 households collected between April 18 and May 22, 2026.
