Food insecurity report shows in-depth county-level data - Entrepreneur Generations

Food insecurity rates in 2017 (Feeding Hunger map; click here for the interactive version)

The Map the Meal Gap 2019 report, just released by nonprofit hunger-relief organization Feeding America, aims to provide a more detailed picture of food insecurity in America with county-level data from 2017.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, about 40 million Americans, including more than 12 million children, faced hunger and food insecurity in 2017. But "national and even state estimates of food insecurity can mask the variation that exists at the local level," the Feeding America report says. Some hunger organizations estimate local need based on poverty rates, but that isn't the best way to measure it, according to the report: "national data reveal that about 59% of people struggling with hunger earn incomes above the federal poverty level and 61% of people living in poor households are food secure."

Instead, Feeding America gathered four types of community-level data to assess hunger: overall food-insecurity estimates, child food-insecurity estimates, average meal costs and food budget shortfalls. The researchers found that, as expected, poverty, unemployment, and underemployment contribute significantly to hunger. Underemployment is when a person is working but doesn't have enough hours or high enough wages to make a living. Hunger is most concentrated in the Black Belt, the Lower Mississippi, Central Appalachia, and Native American reservations.

An example of the interactive map's entry for Rhea County, Tenn. (Feeding America map)

from The Rural Blog http://bit.ly/2IXqD7M Food insecurity report shows in-depth county-level data - Entrepreneur Generations

Posted by Entrepreneur Generations

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