Transcript HungerinAmerica.ppt

HUNGER IN AMERICA

Food security: access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.

Food insecurity: the lack of access at times to enough food for an active, healthy life;
limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods.
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Low food security (formerly food insecure without hunger): reported reduction in
quality, variety, or desirability of diet but little or no indication of reduced food
intake.

Very low food security (formerly food insecure with hunger): reported reduction in
food intake and disrupted eating patterns due to inadequate resources for food.
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Hunger: the uneasy or painful sensation caused by a lack of food; an individual level
physiological condition that may result from food insecurity. "A potential
consequence of food insecurity that because of prolonged, involuntary lack of food,
results in discomfort, illness, weakness, or pain that can go beyond the usual uneasy
sensation.
49.1 million Americans lack the means to
regularly put enough nutritious food on the
table .
They are food insecure and struggle with
hunger.
What is “food insecure”?
 Families struggling with hunger experience
three or more symptoms of food insecurity
during seven months of the year, on average.
 Symptoms of food insecurity include running
out of food without money to buy more,
cutting portion sizes or skipping meals, and
not feeding children in the family because
there isn’t money for food.
 Low Food Security: People that fall into this
category have had to make changes in the
quality or the quantity of their food in order
to deal with a limited budget.
 Very Low Food Security: People that fall into
this category have struggled with having
enough food for the household, including
cutting
Food insecurity exists in:
 14.6% of all U.S. households
 42.2% of all households at or below the
poverty line
 37.2% of all single-mom households
Who are food insecure families?
 83.6% live in major metropolitan areas
 67.7% live above the poverty line
 52.1 % are white
 48.7% (8.3 million) have kids under 18
There are 17.1 million food insecure families in
the United States.
Food insecurity affects nearly
17 million children in America.
 34% more than last year
 48.7% live in married-couple families
 41.9% live in single-mom families
 41.2% live at or below the poverty line
 40.3% live in the South
 35.5% live in cities outside of major metro
areas
Households Likely to Experience
Food Insecurity
 households with children (21.0 percent).
 households with children headed by single
women (37.2 percent) or single men (27.6
percent).
 households with incomes below the poverty
line (42.2 percent).
 Black non-Hispanic households (25.7 percent)
and Hispanic households (26.9 percent).
 In 2008, 8.1 percent of households with seniors
(2.3 million households).
ACCORDING TO THE USDA HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY IN THE UNITED STATES
2008 REPORT, TEN STATES EXHIBITED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT HIGHER
HOUSEHOLD FOOD INSECURITY RATES THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE (12.2%):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
MISSISSIPPI
17.4%
TEXAS
16.3%
ARKANSAS
15.9%
GEORGIA
14.2%
NEW MEXICO
14.1%
MISSOURI
14.0%
OKLAHOMA
14.0%
KANSAS
13.8%
MAINE
13.7%
NORTH CAROLINA
13.7%
 8 states plus the District of Columbia have
20 percent or more of children under 18
living in food insecure households;
 Texas (22.1 percent) and Mississippi (21.5
percent) have the highest rates of children
in households without consistent access to
food.
One in eight Americans (37 million people,
including 14 million children and three million
seniors) don't get enough to eat.
The Food Research and Action Center found
that nearly one in five in the US -- 18.5
percent -- report having gone hungry in the
past year, up from 16.3 percent at the start of
the previous year.
Households with children were even likelier to
experience hunger, with nearly a quarter
reporting hunger in the past year.
Food Banks and Soup Kitchens
Last year, 4.1 PERCENT OF ALL U.S.
HOUSEHOLDS (4.8 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS)
ACCESSED EMERGENCY FOOD FROM A
FOOD PANTRY ONE OR MORE TIMES.
About 5.7 million Americans (or 1 in 50) get
emergency food aid from the system in any
given week.
The study, Hunger in America, found that 37
million people, or roughly one in eight US
residents, received food aid last year.
That's a 46% jump from a similar survey carried
out in 2009.
The number of Americans in need
of food aid has:
 jumped 46 percent in three years,
 including a 50 percent jump in the number of
children needing food assistance, and a
 64 percent increase in hunger in senior
citizens' homes.
Who Goes to Food Banks?
 38% are children under 18, compared to 36% in 2005;
 8% are elderly, down from 10% in 2005;
 about 40% are white; 34% black; 20% Hispanic; and the
remainder from other racial groups;
 36% of households include at least one employed adult,
the same as in 2005;
 71% of households have incomes below the federal
poverty level during the month preceding the survey, up
from 69% in 2005;
 median monthly household income decreased by 7%
from $825 to $770 in 2012.
Clients of Food Banks report having to
choose between food and other
 46% between food and paying for utilities,
necessities:
including heating oil;
 39% between food and paying rent or
mortgages;
 34% between food and medical care,
including drugs;
 35% between food and public transportation;
and
 36% between food and gasoline for a car.
Despite the growing need, 70
percent of emergency food
centers face threats to their
survival .