How Taylor Swift is ‘shining a light’ on U.S. food insecurity

One Minnesota food bank was able to purchase 30,000 meals thanks to a donation from Swift.

Ahead of Taylor Swift’s July 14, 2023, concert in Denver, Aditi Desai, chief marketing officer at the Food Bank of the Rockies, got an unusual call. The billionaire pop star wanted to donate tens of thousands of meals to the nonprofit — a philanthropic effort she had repeated, much like her favorite songs, as she traverses the country on her 52-city Eras Tour.

“I was shocked and then thrilled by the news,” Desai said. “When (Swift’s representatives) shared the news, they were so kind, letting us know that Taylor wanted to express her gratitude for the work we do in our community every day.”

Since last March, Swift has donated the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of meals to help feed the growing number of Americans grappling with rising food and housing costs. She chooses to give without celebrity fanfare, and the gifts have been welcomed. But food bank operators say they have provided only temporary relief, as food insecurity has been spiking and federal government COVID-19 aid has ended.

“We got so much support during COVID,” said Jessica Sund, director of development and communications at Channel One Regional Food Bank of Minnesota, which received funding from Swift. “That really helped us not have a horrible situation. But the numbers we’re seeing are so much higher now because of inflation and cost of living, and all of that support is gone.”

Swift’s support has been meaningful, food bank operators say, especially in drawing attention to their crucial service for low- and mid-income people. But food banks, collectively, require billions of dollars in funding per year, said Kyle Waide, CEO of Atlanta Community Food Bank, who is chair of the National Council for Feeding America and whose Georgia food bank is a Swift grantee.

The annual funding shortfall between what is needed in food assistance and what is provided by the federal government is roughly $33 billion, according to Feeding America, a network of food banks, pantries, and local meal programs.

“At a macro level, food banks are certainly facing lots of pressure right now, mainly because of just the extraordinary level of demand that’s out in the community,” Waide said.

Typically, according to Feeding America, food banks rely on individual and corporate donations, contributions from local farmers and retailers, and federal aid programs to sustain operations.