Food insecurity, as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is the disruption of food intake or eating patterns because of lack of money or other resources. It is a household-level socio-economic condition, as contrasted with hunger, which is an individual physiological condition that may, and often does, result from food insecurity. Even in “good,” times where the prosperity only seems to spread so far, too many Americans have limited or uncertain access to food; with the COVID-19 pandemic, these numbers have skyrocketed. The following are some key stats regarding food insecurity:
- As of April 2020, more than one in five U.S. households was food insecure, and for households with mothers who had children under 12, that number was two in five. (Source: The Brookings Institute.)
- For 10 years, Feeding America has produced estimates of the numbers of Americans facing food insecurity. Its latest findings from October 2020: 50.4 million people are food insecure, which is an increase of 13.2 million since 2018. For children, 17.0 million are food insecure, an increase of 5.8 million.
- As the chart below demonstrates, COVID has had a dramatic impact:
Effective government policies are needed to help protect people from hunger, but you can help on an individual level. Help us in our ongoing struggle to feed the local community. Donate today.