New Study: 35 Million Americans on the Brink of Hunger
Charitable Food Distribution Network And Food Stamp Program Enrollment Continue To Meet Increasing Demands For Food Assistance
CHICAGO, November 15, 2006 — According to Household Food Security in the United States released today by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), more than 35 million Americans, including 12 million children, are living in low food secure households. This is an 8 percent decrease in food insecurity over the previous year. However, demands for food assistance remain high. America’s Second Harvest—The Nation’s Food Bank Network distributed record levels of food over the last year, and Food Stamp Program participation is increasing.
“It is unacceptable that we have people in the United States who do not have access to food,” said Vicki Escarra, president and chief executive officer of America's Second Harvest—The Nation’s Food Bank Network. “While the overall numbers of food insecurity are declining, the portion of people who are living in the most dire situations, the very low food insecure households, remains the same.”
According to the study, low food security declined from 11.9 percent of households in 2004 to 11 percent of households in 2005. Very low food security—formerly food insecurity with hunger—remained the same as 2004 levels at 3.9 percent. Almost 1 million fewer households experienced food insecurity in 2005 compared to 2004. Overall, households with children reported food insecurity at almost double the rate for those without.
“As we approach the holidays, it saddens me to imagine how many people will not be sitting around a table sharing a meal with their families,” said Escarra. “The America’s Second Harvest Network continues to work 365 days a year to ensure no one goes to bed hungry.”
Hunger in America 2006, the largest, most comprehensive study ever conducted on domestic hunger reported an 8 percent increase in the number of people that the America’s Second Harvest Network serves. Nearly 40 percent of clients seeking emergency food assistance from an agency served by the America’s Second Harvest Network had at least one adult working. Additionally, more than 40 percent of the clients served report having to choose between paying for utilities or heating fuel and food; 35 percent said they had to choose between paying for rent or a mortgage and food; 32 percent report having to choose between paying for medical bills and food.
Enrollment in the Food Stamp Program, the largest and most underutilized federal nutrition program, has grown to more than 25 million average participants for Fiscal Year 2005.
Low food secure households are those that are not able to access enough food to meet basic nutritional requirements. Very low food secure households are those in which one or more household members experienced hunger due to lack of financial resources in the past year.
For more information on the USDA’s “Household Food Security in the United States, 2004” please visithttp://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR29/ERR29.pdf. For more information on Hunger in America, please visit www.hungerinamerica.org.
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America's Second Harvest–The Nation's Food Bank Network is the largest charitable domestic hunger-relief organization in the country with a Network of more than 200 Member food banks and food-rescue organizations serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The America's Second Harvest Network secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually; and supports approximately 50,000 local charitable agencies operating more than 94,000 programs including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs and Kids Cafes. Last year, the America's Second Harvest Network provided food assistance to more than 25 million low-income hungry people in the United States, including 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors. For more on the America's Second Harvest Network, please visit www.secondharvest.org.
Contact:
MAURA DALY
Office: 312.641.6421
Cell: 301.943.3733
ROSS FRASER
Office: 312.641.6422
Cell: 312.307.8470
