For 1 in 8 Americans, hunger is a reality.
Right now, millions of Americans are struggling with hunger. We all know and are in contact with people affected by hunger, even though we might not be aware of it.
These are often hard-working adults, children and seniors who simply cannot make ends meet and are forced to go without food for several meals, or even days. Most of us simply have no idea.
It’s time to educate ourselves about America’s hunger problem.
HUNGER FACT SHEETS
Hunger in America is a big issue. Feeding America researched and compiled sources for more information on specific areas of study below.
- Hunger and Poverty Statistics
- Child Hunger Facts
- Hunger in the Suburbs
- Rural Hunger
- Senior Hunger
- Working Poor
- Child Hunger Implications
In January 2010, Feeding America (FA, formerly America’s Second Harvest) released its disturbing new report on growing hunger titled, “Hunger in America 2010.”
Hunger In America 2010 Key Findings
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The 37 million Americans served annually by Feeding America include nearly 14 million children and nearly 3 million seniors.
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Each week, approximately 5.7 million people receive emergency food assistance from an agency served by a Feeding America member. This is a 27 percent increase over numbers reported in Hunger in America 2006, which reported that 4.5 million people were served each week.
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These numbers are based on surveys conducted at emergency feeding centers, such as soup kitchens and food pantries, but do not factor in many individuals also served at non-emergency locations, such as Kids Cafe programs and senior centers.
Client Households
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76 percent (10 million) of client households served are food insecure, meaning they do not always know where they will find their next meal.
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36 percent of these client households are experiencing food insecurity with hunger, meaning they are sometimes completely without a source of food.
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79 percent (11 million) of households with children served are also food insecure.
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Of the 37 million people the Feeding America network serves:
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70 percent of households have incomes below the federal poverty line.
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The average monthly income for client households is $940.
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36 percent of households have one or more adults who is working.
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10 percent of client households are homeless.
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Tough Choices
Many of the client households served by Feeding America food banks report that their household incomes are inadequate to cover their basic household expenses.
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46 percent of client households served report having to choose between paying for utilities or heating fuel and food.
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39 percent of client households said they had to choose between paying for rent or a mortgage and food.
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34 percent of client households report having to choose between paying for medical bills and food.
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35 percent of client households must choose between transportation and food.
One in four client households (24 percent) do not have health insurance and nearly half of our adult clients report that they have unpaid medical and hospital bills.
Thirty percent of households report having at least one member of their household in poor health.
Feeding America is a United States-based non-profit organization. It consists of a nation-wide network of more than 200 food banks and food rescue organizations that serve virtually every county in the United States as well as Puerto Rico.
It is the nation’s leading hunger-relief charity, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The current president and CEO is Vicki B. Escarra. Feeding America was known as America’s Second Harvest until August 31, 2008.
In the late 1960s, John van Hengel, a retired businessman in Phoenix, Arizona began volunteering at a local soup kitchen, and began soliciting food donations for the kitchen. He ended up with far more food than the kitchen could use in its operations.
Around this time, he spoke with one of the clients, who told him that she regularly fed her family with discarded items from the grocery store’s garbage bins. She told him that the food quality was fine, but that there should be a place where unwanted food could be stored and later accessed by people who needed it, similar to how banks store money.
Van Hengel began to actively solicit this unwanted food from grocery stores, local gardens, and nearby produce farms. His effort led to the creation of St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix, the nation’s first food bank.
In 1975, St. Mary’s was given a federal grant to assist in developing food banks across the nation. This effort was formally incorporated into a separate non-profit organization in 1976.
In 2001, America’s Second Harvest merged with Foodchain, at that time the nation’s largest food-rescue organization.
In May 2007, it was featured on American Idol, named as a charity in the Idol Gives Back charity program.
In September 2008, the organization name was changed to Feeding America. The new name conveys the mission—providing food to Americans living with hunger—and will be supported through expansive public outreach campaigns that will raise awareness of domestic hunger and Feeding America’s work.
Feeding America has an “A” rating at charitywatch.org.
In August 2009, Columbia Records announced that all U.S. royalties from Bob Dylan’s album ‘Christmas in the Heart’ would be donated to Feeding America, in perpetuity.


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