There are people hungry and starving in America.
Hunger in America
According to Feeding America,
1 in 8 Americans struggles with hunger. In 2015, 42,238,000 people were food insecure. Food insecurity exists in every county in America. Millions of people are still struggling to get by because of underemployment, stagnant wages and rising costs of living. To these Americans, food has become an unaffordable luxury.
As of 2016, 40.6 million people (12.7%) live in poverty. (Source: Feeding America)
According to the Feeding America Hunger Study 2014,
57% of client households served by Feeding America food banks said 66% had to choose between medical care and food, and 69% had to choose between utilities and food.
In the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Report on Hunger and Homelessness (A Status Report on Homelessness and Hunger in America’s Cities, December 2016) it was noted:
- Forty-one percent of survey cities reported that the number of requests for emergency food assistance increased over the past year.
- Of the requests for emergency food assistance, 63 percent were persons in families, 51 percent were employed, 18 percent were elderly, and 8 percent were homeless. (These categories are not mutually exclusive and the same person can be included in more than one.)
America has more than enough food to feed everyone. But our abundance is accompanied by tremendous waste. By some estimates, nearly half of the food grown, processed and transported in the U.S. goes to waste. (Source: Feeding America)