New Report Shows More Than 36 Million Americans Unable to Purchase Adequate Food

Number of Hungry and Food Insecure Americans Increases For Fourth Year

CHICAGO --- November 19, 2004 --- As many families rush to long grocery store lines this weekend in preparation for Thanksgiving, a new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report released today shows 36 million Americans-including 13.3 million children - are food insecure.  The report, based on Census Bureau surveys, demonstrates an increase in the number of hungry and food insecure Americans for the fourth straight year.

In 2002, the number of people living in food insecure households was 34.9 million-including 13.1 million children.  The report found Black and Hispanic households are disproportionately impacted by food insecurity at double the national average.

Of the 36 million food insecure Americans, 23 million are adults, and more than 9 million of the individuals are living with hunger.    On average, households living with food insecurity or hunger experience this condition in eight or nine months out of the year.

"It is clear that tough economic times in recent years have had a terrible impact on the food insecurity and hunger in America," said Robert Forney, President and CEO of America's Second Harvest — The Nation's Food Bank Network.  "It is disheartening that as a country we produce enough food to feed every American and the rest of the world, but we continue to see hunger on the rise."

The USDA report included food insecurity and hunger rates for every state.  States with the highest food insecurity, with rates above 12.9 percent of households, were Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Idaho, South Carolina, Oregon and Georgia.

"An increase in the number of hungry Americans means our Network needs more food to meet the rising demand," said Forney.  "Lawmakers should review these numbers while assessing priorities in the coming year."

Food insecure households are those that are not able to access enough food to meet basic nutritional requirements.  Hungry households are those in which one or more household members experienced hunger due to lack of financial resources in the past year.