To have a whole state experience food insecurity at some point during the year would surely call attention to a severe problem.  However, since those 35 million Americans are geographically dispersed, lack of access to enough food at all times for all household members due to lack of money, does not seem to be a "large" problem.   Food insecurity not only places them at risk for more health problems, but it makes us all somehow lesser people. 

The United States Department of Agriculture's division, The Economic Research Service (ERS) released a report today (November 15, 2005) entitled "Household Food Security in the United States, 2005." This annual assessment of the extent of hunger in America is released every fall providing a state-by-state snapshot of food insecurity.

The USDA decided to take the advice of the Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) of the National Academics and scratch the term "hunger" from the annual report because it lacked scientific clarity.  Instead of classifying households as being food insecure with or without hunger, the federal government has now introduced new  two new labels: "low food security" and "very low security."

    Low food security: households that avoided hunger by relying on a select few food staples and reduced the variety in their diets.  Previously classified as food insecure without hunger.
    Very low food security: households whose eating patterns were disrupted, their caloric intake was reduced, and/or there was not enough money to purchase food.  Previously classified as food insecure with hunger.

And although the prevalence of food insecure households slightly declined from 2004; however, this number is still higher than in 1999-2001.  In addition, there is concern that the changes in labeling could potentially diminish the concern over hunger in the United States.

Labels aside, there are 12.4 million children who experienced food insecurity at some point last year.  Between 32,000 to 43,000 children were hungry on a typical day in the United States.  Among the households with children under the age of 6, 13.2% were food insecure, and 4% were considered to have very low food security.  Food insecurity is also closely correlated with income level and again this year the numbers indicate that employment and income very much influence whether or not a family will go hungry.

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) says, “It is simply unacceptable that after years of economic growth, 35.1 million people in this country face a constant struggle against hunger,” said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). “We will be calling on Congress to attack this shameful, national condition with new commitment and new energy.”

To read the full 2005 ERS report, click here. To get an audio guided summary of the report, click here (Adobe Flash Player is required, download here if you do not have it installed). If you would like to read more about food insecurity, please visit the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) website.

Authors:
Michelle Renee Chyatte, MPH
Mariana Chilton, PhD, MPH