National Food Insecurity Rates Climb
Food insecurity in the United States rose to 11.1 percent of all households from 10.9 percent in 2006, according to 2007 data released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Even before this year’s severe economic downturn, more households were struggling to put food on the table,” said Bread for the World President David Beckmann. “As the crisis continues, federal nutrition programs are working overtime to keep up with the need.”
Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) is nearing record highs. Nearly 30 million people, half of them children, receive SNAP benefits. This is a 9.5 percent increase since the same time last year. One in every two babies in America receives special nutrition assistance through the federal Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.
“More than one in six children lives on the brink of hunger in the U.S.,” Beckmann said. “America desperately needs political leadership that will see to it that all our children get the basic nutrition they need to thrive.”
A post-election poll conducted by the Alliance to End Hunger showed that a significant number of Americans are just one paycheck away from facing difficult choices about how to feed their families. Nearly half of American voters reported that they are living paycheck to paycheck. Three in five voters reported being impacted by high food prices, including one in five voters who worry that they or someone they know will go hungry.
President-elect Barack Obama committed to ending childhood hunger by 2015 and to cutting poverty in half within 10 years. “These goals need to be Mr. Obama’s priority. Together with the new Congress, he can help put the nation on that path by strengthening child nutrition programs when they are reauthorized next year,” said Beckmann.
Even as Americans face tough economic challenges, seven out of 10 voters favor spending additional tax dollars on federal hunger programs to end child hunger in the U.S. by 2015. Three in four voters approve of Obama’s proposals for cutting poverty and hunger by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, increasing funding for federal nutrition programs, raising the minimum wage, and expanding after school, weekend and summer feeding programs so that low-income children can receive free meals all year round.
###
Bread for the World (www.bread.org) is a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad.
Download a summary of key findings, including a chart of state-by-state data for food security, poverty, unemployment and SNAP (formerly the Food Stamp Program) participation.
