Hunger in America | Feeding America (2024)

FAQs

How common is hunger in the US? ›

More than 44 million people in the US face hunger, including 1 in 5 children. Millions of people in the US don't have enough food to eat or don't have access to healthy food. This is a big problem, but together, we can solve it.

Hunger Quick Facts for 2022

Overall: One in 8 households (12.8 percent) experienced food insecurity, or lack of access to an affordable, nutritious diet. An estimated 44.2 million Americans lived in these households.

Poverty and unemployment

People who don't have a lot of money can't afford to buy food regularly and may live in places where there aren't many stores that sell healthy food at a good price.

According to Feeding America, rural communities make up 63% of counties in the United States and 87% of counties with the highest rates of overall food insecurity. However, according to a study by USDA, areas with higher poverty rates are more likely to be food deserts regardless if rural or urban.

Q: Will there be food shortages? A: There are currently no nationwide shortages of food, although in some cases the inventory of certain foods at your grocery store might be temporarily low before stores can restock.

The first time hunger in the U.S. gained significant attention from policymakers was during the 1930s, when the Great Depression left a quarter of the American workforce unemployed.

The term “hidden hunger” is used to describe vitamin and mineral deficiency. When someone's habitual diet consists of foods that lack necessary levels of micronutrients, the resulting health impacts may not always be obviously visible.

The DRC is the world's largest hunger crisis, fueled by over 25 years of conflict and endemic poverty. 26 million people (about the population of Texas) are severely hungry today and over 5 million people have been displaced from their homes.

The United States is growing less and less of its own food and is becoming increasingly dependent on foreign countries to feed itself as a result. The U.S. has been a proud agricultural powerhouse, consistently running an agricultural trade surplus.

What is the main problem of hunger? ›

Poverty: Hunger can lead to poverty, as people may not be able to work and earn an income due to a lack of food and energy. Hunger also increases health care costs and reduces productivity, which can perpetuate poverty and inequality.

These states have the highest percentages of American households who experienced hunger: Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, and Missouri.

The St. Lawrence Island famine of 1878-80 is listed as occurring in the USA. However, it took place on a very remote Alaskan island populated by the indigenous Yupik people, that had relatively little interaction with mainland USA.

The forecast calls for a strong El Niño event for the first half of 2024. This will likely deliver more droughts to places where farmers are the least equipped to deal with them, including most of sub-Saharan Africa and large portions of Latin America and the Caribbean. Other farmers will see flooding.

Our stomachs are full, and we are content. Over 44 million Americans face hunger each and every day including 1 in 5 children.

How much would it cost to end hunger in the US? Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, has calculated the cost of ending hunger in the US at $25 billion. Hunger in the United States isn't a direct result of war, or crop failures, or massive inflation. Americans who are hungry simply don't have enough money to buy food.

The St. Lawrence Island famine of 1878-80 is listed as occurring in the USA. However, it took place on a very remote Alaskan island populated by the indigenous Yupik people, that had relatively little interaction with mainland USA.