November 19, 2008
Jen Adach
Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)
Washington, D.C. - November 17, 2008 - The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) announced today that the hunger and food insecurity rates in the United States increased in 2007, according to official data. More than 36.2 million people lived in households struggling against hunger in 2007, compared to 35.5 million in 2006 and 33.2 million in 2000. The number of people in the worst-off category - the hungriest Americans - has risen 40 percent since 2000, from 8.5 million to 11.9 million.
Photo: Homesless man with dog. (© Kirsten Bole)
"In 2007, there were nearly three million more Americans in food insecure households than when President Bush was elected. And the 2008 food insecurity number almost certainly will be far worse," said Jim Weill, president of FRAC. "We need both Congress and President Bush now, and President-elect Obama and the new Congress beginning in January, to respond to this huge national problem."
"Increased demand at food stamp and WIC offices, social service agencies, and emergency food providers shows that growing economic dislocation is overwhelming the nation's first responders to hunger. The nation urgently needs a boost in SNAP/Food Stamp benefits, as has been recommended by economists from across the political spectrum, both as a necessary support for low-income people and as the best stimulus expenditure, dollar for dollar. And then Congress must make further improvements in food stamps, school meals, and other nutrition programs."
These findings, along with two other reports that detail the extent and impact of hunger across the nation, will be discussed at "Hunger in America: An Agenda for the New President and Congress," a policy briefing hosted by FRAC this Wednesday, November 19. For event details, click here.
According to the USDA report:
- The 36.2 million people in food insecure households in 2007 includes 23.8 million adults (10.6 percent of all adults) and 12.4 million children (16.9 percent of all children).
- 11.9 million people lived in households that were considered to have "very low food security," a USDA term (previously denominated "food insecure with hunger") that means one or more people in the household were hungry over the course of the year because of the inability to afford enough food.
- This was up from 11.1 million in 2006 and 8.5 million in 2000. This increase in the number of people in the worst-off category is consistent with other studies and the Census Bureau poverty data, which show worsening conditions for the poorest Americans.
- This was up from 11.1 million in 2006 and 8.5 million in 2000. This increase in the number of people in the worst-off category is consistent with other studies and the Census Bureau poverty data, which show worsening conditions for the poorest Americans.
- Black (22.2 percent) and Hispanic (20.1 percent) households experienced food insecurity at far higher rates than the national average.
- The ten states with the highest food insecurity rates in the 2005-2007 period were Mississippi (17.4 percent), New Mexico (15 percent), Texas (14.8 percent), Arkansas (14.4 percent), Maine (13.3 percent), South Carolina (13.1 percent), Georgia (13 percent), Kansas (13 percent), Oklahoma (13 percent), and Missouri (12.9 percent).
Since 1995, the United States Department of Agriculture, using data from surveys conducted annually by the Census Bureau, has released estimates of the number of people in households that are food insecure. Food insecure households are those that are not able to afford an adequate diet at all times in the past 12 months. The report also includes food insecurity rates for each state, but for states uses three-year averages to give a better estimate of the number of households experiencing food insecurity. Experts agree that the Census/USDA measure of food insecurity is a conservative one, with the result that only households experiencing substantial food insecurity are so classified.
Visit FRAC's Web site at www.frac.org for ongoing analysis.
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The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) is the leading national nonprofit organization working to improve public policies and public-private partnerships to eradicate hunger and undernutrition in the United States.
http://www.frac.org/html/all_about_frac/about_index.html