- In 2009, 50.2 million Americans (up from 35.5 million in 2006), including 17.2 million children, are food insecure, or didn’t have the money or assistance to get enough food to maintain active, healthy lives.
- In 2009, 65% of adults reported that they had been hungry, but did not eat because they could not afford enough food.
- In 2008 alone, a rise of about 6% in the price of groceries has led the poor to adopt a variety of survival strategies, from buying food that is beyond its expiration date to visiting food banks.
- About 33.7 million people in America participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) -- a program that provides monthly benefits to poor households to purchase approved food items from authorized food stores. According to the USDA, the average benefit per person was $124 per month and the Federal government spent over $53.6 billion on the program in 2009.
- America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s major food bank network, annually provides food to over 23 million people. That is more than the population of the state of Texas.
- 5.6 million households obtained emergency food from food pantries at least once during 2009.
- The USDA recently found that about 96 billion pounds of food available for human consumption in the United States were thrown away by retailers, restaurants, farmers and households over the course of one year. Fresh fruits and vegetables, fluid milk, grain products, and sweeteners accounted for 2/3 of these losses.
- Hungry adults miss more work and consume more health care than those who don’t go hungry.
- Kids who experience hunger are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, behavior problems, and other illness.
- The total cost of hunger to American society is said to be about $90 billion a year.
- In contrast, it would only cost about $10 billion to $12 billion a year to virtually end hunger in our nation.
US Hunger - from bread.org
- We live in the world's wealthiest nation. Yet 13 percent of people living in the United States live in poverty.
- Nearly one in four children live in households that struggle to put food on the table. That's 16.7 million children.
- The most direct way to reduce hunger in the U.S. is through national nutrition programs. But while food assistance to hungry people is vital, it is not enough.
Read More facts about Hunger in the US, and 2011 statistics from the World Hunger site
Visit the Links below to learn more about Homelessness here in America.
Homelessness in American
National Coalition for the Homeless
Homelessness: Facts and Figures
Statistics and facts of Homeless Youth
US Departments of Housing and Urban Development
