Hunger in Our Communities

Across Second Harvest Food Bank's 18-county service area, nearly a quarter of a million people are at risk of hunger, including more than 80,000 children. Today, 1 in 10 Americans is food insecure, which means they cannot reliably say where their next meal is coming from. Food is a basic need - the fuel we need to survive and thrive. Hungry children can't learn and hungry adults can't work and live productively.

Hunger - A Hidden Reality in Our Communities
Hunger in our communities is largely hidden. But whether it involves a parent skipping meals, eatting less than is needed to live a healthy life or making due with foods that are filling but lack nutrition, its affects can be devasting, especially among our more vulnerable citizens, including children and older adults.

Children
Children are especially vulnerable to issues of hunger and poverty. Research indicates that even mild under-nutrition experienced by young children during critical periods of growth may lead to reductions in physical growth and affect brain development.(1)

A child who is unequipped to learn because of hunger and poverty is more likely to be poor as an adult.  As such, the existence of childhood hunger in the United States threatens future American prosperity.  

Read more about Second Harvest Food Bank's work to address childhood hunger in our communities.

Seniors
For older adults, adequate nutrition is particularly important for health because of their increased vulnerability to disease and conditions that may impair the ability to live at home independently. Inadequate diets may contribute to or exacerbate disease, quicken the advance of age-related degenerative diseases, and delay recovery from illnesses.(2) Nearly 9,500 people -7% served by Second Harvest Food Bank emergency assistance programs are age 65 or older.

Working Poor
The assumption is often made that those who face hunger are unemployed. The truth is that greater and greater numbers of working North Carolinians are struggling to feed their families. The average annual income in households served by Second Harvest Food Bank partner agencies that provide emergency food assistance is $10,560. More than one-third of these households have one or more adults working.

According to one of the most recent studies from the USDA, North Carolina is one of the few states that has an increasing rate of food insecurity – defined as the inability, because of financial constraints, to consistently obtain food of sufficient quantity or quality for an active and healthy life.(3)

Hunger is a significant problem year-round in every community across the United States, from bustling American cities to suburban hamlets to rural small towns.  In 2004 alone, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 38.2 million people lived in food-insecure households, including 13.9 million children. 

Truth be told, the numbers above are an underestimate the extent of the problem. They are based on outdated federal poverty guidelines that distort the true picture of indigence in our nation. Read more.

While hunger is a widespread problem, it is unique in that it is truly a solvable problem.  The resources exist.  The United States is the largest and most efficient food producer in the world.  The charitable food system in America is smart and highly cooperative. With support from many generous food and financial donors and the helping hands of some 2000 volunteers, Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC serves a critical role in hunger-relief efforts for the region, providing donated food to more than 400 non-profit partner agencies that serve people at risk of hunger and others in need from Boone to Burlington. We are a member of Feeding America (formerly named America's Second Harvest), a collaborative and coordinated network of more than 200 food banks united nationally and operating locally, serving every community in the nation to get food to those who need it. Collectively, we distribute more than 2 billion pounds of food each year to 50,000 non-profit organizations serving those in need across the nation.

Ultimately, ending hunger will take leadership and political will. And it will require that the public and private sector join in a determined partnership to address the economic, political and personal barriers that contribute to hunger. Learn more about how you can get involved in creating hunger-free communities today.

Read More:
Click here to view the Hunger in America 2006 summary report.
Read The Consequences of Hunger in Children
Read The Consequences of Hunger in Older Adults

1 Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy, The Links Between Nutrition and Cognitive Development of Children, 1998
2 USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, Food Insufficiency and the
Nutritional Status of the Elderly Population, May 2000
3 USDA-Economic Research Service, 2005, Household Food Insecurity in the United
States: 2004 (From 1996 to 2002, food insecurity among North Carolinians rose from 9.6% to 12.3%. This means tens of thousands of families have difficulty affording food at some point each year.)