Of the 805 million people suffering from chronic hunger, 98 percent live in the developing world. Unlike famines that receive emergency-aid, chronic hunger is a silent, invisible, day-after-day condition.
Hunger, poverty and food prices are inextricably linked. Not every poor person is hungry, but almost all hungry people are poor. Millions live with hunger and malnourishment because they simply cannot afford to buy enough food, cannot afford nutritious foods or cannot afford the farming supplies they need to grow enough good food of their own. Hunger can be viewed as a dimension of extreme poverty. It is often called the most severe and critical manifestation of poverty.
The only way for people to move beyond chronic hunger and their vulnerability to ever-rising food prices is to employ sustainable methods based on self-reliance.
The Hunger Project works to empower rural communities in strengthening their self-reliance in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, where the highest concentrations of hungry people live.
Among other methods, The Hunger Project provides the tools and training to increase farm production at the local level; empowers partners to create, stock and manage their own food banks; and encourages clusters of rural villages to develop sustainable, self-reliant, hunger-free communities.
Although related, food insecurity and poverty are not the same. Poverty in the United States is only one of many factors associated with food insecurity. In fact, higher unemployment, lower household assets, and certain demographic characteristics also lead to a lack of access to adequate, nutritious food.
Poverty[i]
In 2013, 45.3 million people (14.5 percent) were in poverty.
In 2013, 26.4 million (13.6 percent) of people ages 18-64 were in poverty.
In 2013, 14.7 million (19.9 percent) children under the age of 18 were in poverty.
In 2013, 4.2 million (9.5 percent) seniors 65 and older were in poverty.
In 2013, the overall poverty rate according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure is 15.5 percent, as compared with the official poverty rate of 14.5 percent.[ii]
Under the Supplemental Poverty Measure, there are 49.7 million people living in poverty, nearly 3 million more than are represented by the official poverty measure (47.0 million).[iii]
Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security[iv]
In 2013, 49.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households, including 33.3 million adults and 15.8 million children.
In 2013, 14 percent of households (17.5 million households) were food insecure.
In 2013, 6 percent of households (6.8 million households) experienced very low food security.
In 2013, households with children reported food insecurity at a significantly higher rate than those without children, 20 percent compared to 12 percent.
In 2013, households that had higher rates of food insecurity than the national average included households with children (20%), especially households with children headed by single women (34%) or single men (23%), Black non-Hispanic households (26%) and Hispanic households (24%).
In 2011, 4.8 million seniors (over age 60), or 8 percent of all seniors were food insecure.[v]
Food insecurity exists in every county in America, ranging from a low of 4 percent in Slope County, ND to a high of 33 percent in Humphreys County, MS.[vi]
Eight states exhibited statistically significantly higher household food insecurity rates than the U.S. national average 2011-2013:[vii]
United States 14.6%
Arkansas 21.2%
Mississippi 21.1%
Texas 18.0%
Tennessee 17.4%
North Carolina 17.3%
Missouri 16.9%
Georgia 16.6%
Ohio 16.0%
Use of Charitable Food Assistance and Federal Food Assistance Programs
In 2013, 62 percent of food-insecure households participated in at least one of the three major federal food assistance programs –Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-formerly Food Stamp Program), The National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). [viii]
Feeding America provides food assistance to an estimated 46.5 million people annually, including 12 million children and 7 million seniors. Based on annual income, 72 percent of all Feeding America client households live at or below 100 percent of the federal poverty level.[ix]
Among all Feeding America client households, 55 percent report receiving SNAP benefits.[x] Nearly one-quarter (24%) of Feeding America client households with children under the age of 18 report receiving benefits through WIC.[xi]
Nearly all Feeding America client households with school-aged children (94%) receive free or reduced-price school lunch through the National School Lunch Program, whereas less than half of the same population (46%) participate in the School Breakfast Program’s free or reduced-price breakfasts.[xii]
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