Learn About Hunger

Statistics

Nationally:  From Feeding America, our national food bank member headquarters:

HUNGER AND POVERTY STATISTICS

Poverty Statistics

• In 2008, 39.8 million people (13.2 percent) were in poverty.
• In 2008, 8.1 (10.3% percent) million families were in poverty.
• In 2008, 22.1 million (11.7 percent) of people aged 18-64 were in poverty.
• In 2008, 14 million (19 percent) children under the age of 18 were in poverty.
• In 2008, 3.6 million (9.7 percent) seniors 65 and older were in poverty.

Hunger Statistics on Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security  

• In 2008, 49.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 32.4 million adults and 16.7 million children.
• In 2008, 14.6% percent of households (17.1 million households) were food insecure, an increase from 11.1 percent (13.0 million households) in 2007.
• In 2008, 5.7 percent of households (6.7 million households) experienced very low food security, an increase from 4.1 percent in 2007.
• In 2008, households with children reported food insecurity at almost double the rate for those without children, 21.0 percent compared to 11.3 percent.
• In 2008, households that were more likely to experience food insecurity were households with children (21.0 percent), households with children headed by single women (37.2 percent) or single men (27.6 percent), households with incomes below the poverty line (42.2 percent), Black non-Hispanic households (25.7 percent) and Hispanic households (26.9 percent).
• In 2008, 8.1 percent of households with seniors (2.3 million households) were food insecure

Hunger Statistics on the use of Emergency Food Assistance and Federal Food Assistance Programs

• In 2008, 4.1 percent of all U.S. households (4.8 million households) accessed emergency food from a food pantry one or more times.
• In 2008, food insecure (low food security or very low food security) households were 13 times more likely than food-secure households to have obtained food from a food pantry.
• In 2008, food insecure (low food security or very low food security) households were 14 times more likely than food-secure households to have eaten a meal at an emergency kitchen.
• In 2008, 55.0 percent of food-insecure households participated in at least one of the three major Federal food assistance programs – Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly the Food Stamp Program), The National School Lunch Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. 

Feeding America Satistics

• Feeding America provides emergency food assistance to an estimated 37 million low-income people annually, a 46 percent increase from 25 million since Hunger In America 2006
• Feeding America provides emergency food assistance to approximately 5.7 million different people per week.
• Among members of Feeding America, 74 percent of pantries, 65 percent of kitchens, and 54 percent of shelters reported that there had been an increase since 2006 in the number of clients who come to their emergency food program sites. 

According to the USDA Household Food Security in the United States 2008 report, ten states exhibited statistically significant higher household food insecurity rates than the national average (12.2%):

1. Mississippi, 17.4%
2. Texas, 16.3%
3. Arkansas, 15.9%
4. Georgia, 14.2%
5. New Mexico, 14.1%
6. Missouri, 14.0%
7. Oklahoma, 14.0%
8. Kansas, 13.8%
9. Maine, 13.7%
10. North Carolina, 13.7%

Statewide and Locally:

The California Food Policy Advocates Research Center recently released the 2010 Nutrition Profiles by county. Ventura County’s information is included here.   

FOOD Share currently feeds over 73,000 people every month, through a variety of programs that meet the needs of children, families, and seniors.