What Every Elected Official Should Know About Hunger

FRAC has created a one-stop-shop for elected officials to get the facts on the extent of hunger in America and the solutions that exist to solve it.

Facts Every Elected Official Should Know About Hunger in the U.S.

1. During COVID-19 the rate of food insecurity has reached crisis levels: 25 percent of adults and nearly 30 percent of those with children are struggling to put enough food on the table
2. Even before COVID-19, rates of hunger and poverty were far too high. In 2019, more than 35 million people lived in households that struggled against hunger and 34 million people, including more than 10 million children, lived in poverty.
3. Rural households and Black, Latinx, and Native American households experience disproportionately high rates of food insecurity.
4. Hunger hurts us all. Eliminating hunger would save the nation billions of dollars in doctor and hospital bills, special education costs, and lost economic productivity.
5. The Child Nutrition Programs are profoundly important programs with well-documented benefits to the health and well-being of children and families.
6. Close to 80 percent of people who participate in SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) are either working or cannot work because they are children, older adults (60+), or have disabilities.
7. SNAP boosts local economies. Estimates issued by Moody’s Analytics and others of the economic growth impact of SNAP during a recession range from $1.73 to $1.79 per $1 of SNAP benefits.
8. Hunger is an economic condition. Policies that promote a full employment economy with adequate wages and incomes can take the country a long way toward ending hunger.
9. Ending hunger is a goal that the American people fully support. Polls have consistently found that voters do not think the government is doing enough to solve hunger.
10. The private sector – business, labor and charitable – efforts can bolster government’s leadership in alleviating hunger, but cannot take the place of government’s steadfast commitment, strong policies and adequate investments to end it.