Hunger numbers remain steady for 3 years
September 7, 2011
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released their food insecurity numbers and the number decreased slightly from last year to 48.8 million Americans that struggle with hunger.
Don’t get too excited about the decrease – that’s three years the numbers have stayed around 1 in 6 people experiencing hunger in America. Let me say it again – ONE IN SIX AMERICANS.
Of the nearly 49 million Americans that experience food insecurity:
- 16 million are children
- 13 million are Latino
- 10 million are African-American.
While it is good to see a decrease this past year, this number is still dramatically higher than 3 years ago when the number was 37 million. This number is not suprising to us since we released our Map the Meal Gap study which shows food insecurity and specifically child food insecurity exists in every county of the country.
So – we are in the middle of Hunger Action Month where you can help do something about this number. Check out the many different ways that you can participate from volunteering to donating to attending a Virtual Town Hall. There are events happening all across the country. Is the maddening number of 1 in 6 Americans enough to get you involved?
Our CEO Vicki Escarra said it best, “Hunger is simply one battle we cannot afford to lose.”
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