According to the USDA, more than 34 million people, including 9 million children, in the United States are food insecure. Food Insecurity is a federal measure of a household's ability to provide enough food for every person in the household to have an active healthy life. Food insecurity is one way we can measure hunger in America.
The pandemic has increased food insecurity among families with children and communities of color, who already faced hunger at much higher rates before the pandemic. Every community is home to families who face hunger, but rural communities are hardest hit.
Many households that experience food insecurity do not qualify for federal nutrition programs and visit their local food banks and depend on other food programs for extra support.
Many people facing hunger are forced to make tough choices between buying food and paying medical bills, food and rent and/or food and transportation. The struggle goes beyond harming an individual family's future.
According to the latest statistics by Feeding America, hunger in Native American, Latino and African American communities is higher because of racial injustice. To achieve a hunger-free America, we must address the root causes of hunger and structural and systemic inequities.
