FRAC: Press Release - 2008 Hunger Numbers - 49.1 Million Americans Struggled Against Hunger in 2008 (11/16/00)

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jen Adach, 202-986-2200 x3018 (jadach@frac.org)

One in Six Americans Struggling Against Hunger
New USDA Data Show 49.1 Million in Food Insecure Households; Highest Rates of Hunger Recorded by USDA Survey

Washington, D.C. – November 16, 2009 – More than 49.1 million Americans lived in households struggling against hunger in 2008, according to new data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Previously, in 2007, 36.2 million Americans were in food insecure households. The 2008 number is the highest since USDA first started the survey in 1995.

The number of people in the worst-off category (living in “very low food secure” households) – the hungriest Americans – experienced the fastest pace of growth, rising from 11.9 million to 17.3 million. In fact, in many categories, the numbers are double what they were in 2000.

“As the recession hit, the number of Americans in households struggling against hunger skyrocketed to one in six last year, and it’s likely that the number is even higher today. Millions have lost jobs or seen their wages reduced over the past two years. While many more people are turning to the federal nutrition programs for help, those programs don’t reach enough people and their benefits often aren’t enough to stop hunger,” said Jim Weill, FRAC president.

“Particularly troubling is the increase among children. According to the report, one in four children lived in households struggling with hunger. President Obama has made it a goal to end childhood hunger by 2015, and these numbers highlight the urgency of dramatic action to achieve this goal,” said Weill. “A strong economy, better wages, better income supports, and stronger SNAP/Food Stamp and child nutrition programs are the key steps.”

According to the USDA report:

Of the 49.1 million people living in food insecure households (up from 36.2 million in 2007), 32.4 million are adults (14.4 percent of all adults) and 16.7 million are children (22.5 percent of all children).
17.3 million people lived in households that were considered to have "very low food security," a USDA term (previously denominated "food insecure with hunger") that means one or more people in the household were hungry over the course of the year because of the inability to afford enough food. This was up from 11.9 million in 2007 and 8.5 million in 2000.
Very low food security had been getting worse even before the recession. The number of people in this category in 2008 is more than double the number in 2000.
Black (25.7 percent) and Hispanic (26.9 percent) households experienced food insecurity at far higher rates than the national average.

Since 1995, the United States Department of Agriculture, using data from surveys conducted annually by the Census Bureau, has released estimates of the number of people in households that are food insecure. Food insecure households are those that are not able to afford an adequate diet at all times in the past 12 months. The report also includes food insecurity rates for each state, but for states it uses three-year averages to give a better estimate of the number of households experiencing food insecurity. Experts agree that the Census/USDA measure of food insecurity is a conservative one, with the result that only households experiencing substantial food insecurity are so classified.

Visit FRAC's Web site at www.frac.org for ongoing analysis.

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The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) is the leading national nonprofit organization working to improve public policies and public-private partnerships to eradicate hunger and undernutrition in the United States.