ISR project selected to receive funding from U-M Strategic Initiative Fund
August 26, 2026
ANN ARBOR – A joint project between the Institute for Social Research (ISR) and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy has received a grant from the University of Michigan’s Strategic Initiatives Fund (SIF).
The project, titled “Monitoring Food Hardship in the US,” is helmed by Helen Levy of ISR’s Survey Research Center (SRC) and Natasha Pilkauskas of the Ford School’s Poverty Solutions initiative.
The project will track food insufficiency in U.S. households, publishing quarterly reports on its findings and releasing free data on hardship among vulnerable families nationwide. In addition to promoting public awareness of food hardship, the project will partly fill a key data gap; the United States Department of Agriculture recently ended its federal survey on food insecurity, just as rising food prices, cuts to welfare programs, and pervasive economic hardship threaten to increase rates of food insecurity in America.
“Monitoring Food Hardship in the US” was one of 37 initiatives selected from among more than 450 proposals across U-M’s three campuses and Michigan Medicine. The SIF will award more than $1 billion dollars in research funds over the next ten years as the University works to accelerate research projects with the capability to create significant, lasting change in society.
Click here to read more about the SIF and the projects selected for funding.
Contact: Jon Meerdink ([email protected])