Hunger in the United States is an invisible epidemic felt only by those who experience it
and those who try to end it.
Hunger does not discriminate against gender, weight, color or ethnicity. It does not stereotype. It’s affecting a working family of four, a single mom and her two children, a college-educated man who recently lost his job to illness and an elderly woman living off of a small monthly social security check.
The United States Department of Agriculture reports that in 2009 49.1 million Americans struggled to feed themselves.
Approximately 17,500 different people receive food assistance through our network of hunger-relief partners in any given week. Annually, we serve 241,600 individuals – and unfortunately that number continues to rise. As the economy continues to slow, and food prices skyrocket to all-time highs, more and more Delawareans will seek help.
Hunger will not end until its root causes – lack of job training, education, transportation, childcare, literacy, affordable housing, healthcare, drug treatment – just to name a few – are addressed.
A snapshot of hunger in Delaware:
- The Food Bank of Delaware provides emergency food for an estimated 241,600 different people annually
- About 17,500 different people receive emergency food assistance in any given
week - 44% of the members of households served by The Food Bank of Delaware are
children under 18 years old - 6% of the members of households are children age 0 to 5 years
- 6% of the members of households are elderly
- About 19% of clients are non-Hispanic white, 71% are non-Hispanic black, 4%
are Hispanic, and the rest are from other racial groups - 43% of households include at least one employed adult
- 72% have incomes below the federal poverty level during the
previous month - 15% are homeless
- Among all client households served by emergency food programs of The Food Bank of Delaware, 72% are food insecure, according to the U.S. government’s official food security scale. This includes client households who have low food security and those who have very low food security
- 32% of the clients have very low food security
- Among households with children, 68% are food insecure and 30% are food insecure with very low food security
- 33% of clients served by The Food Bank of Delaware report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel
- 21% had to choose between paying for food and paying their rent or mortgage
- 32% had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care
- 22% had to choose between paying for food and paying for transportation
- 19% had to choose between paying for food and paying for gas for a car
Source: Hunger in America 2010 Study
Click here to see findings from the 2010 Hunger Study.