Hunger Facts
Facts about hunger in America
- According to the USDA, more than 34 million people, including 9 million children, in the United States are food insecure.
- The pandemic has increased food insecurity among families with children and communities of color, who already faced hunger at much higher rates before the pandemic.
- Every community in the country is home to families who face hunger. But rural communities are especially hard hit by hunger.
- Many households that experience food insecurity do not qualify for federal nutrition programs and visit their local food banks and other food programs for extra support.
- Hunger in African American, Latino, and Native American communities is higher because of systemic racial injustice. To achieve a hunger-free America, we must address the root causes of hunger and structural and systemic inequities.
Who faces hunger in the United States?
Hunger can affect people from all walks of life. Millions of people in America are just one job loss, missed paycheck, or medical emergency away from hunger. But hunger doesn't affect everyone equally - some groups like children, seniors, Black, Indigenous, and other people of color face hunger much higher rates. Hunger also most often affects our neighbors who live in poverty.
Hunger threatens our nation's future
Many people facing hunger are forced to make tough choices between buying food and medical bills, food and rent and/or food and transportation. This struggle goes beyond harming an individual family’s future, it can harm us all.
What is food insecurity?
Food security is a federal measure of a household’s ability to provide enough food for every person in the household to have an active, healthy life. Food insecurity is one way we can measure the risk of hunger.
