STUDY SHOWS CHILDREN IN THE TRI-STATE ARE MORE LIKELY TO FACE HUNGER THAN OVERALL POPULATION ACROSS AMERICA

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Child Food Insecurity Rates In Tri-State Food Bank’s Service Area Are Higher Than Overall Food Insecurity Rates

 Tri-State Food Bank announced the release of Map the Meal Gap 2019, the latest report by Feeding America® on food insecurity and the cost of food at both the county and congressional district level. It is the only study that provides food insecurity data at the local level.  

Map the Meal Gap 2019 reveals that food insecurity exists in every county in Tri-State Food Bank’s service area. It also shows that children are more likely to be food insecure, with the child food insecurity rate at 17.7% compared to 13% for the overall population in the 33 counties in IL, IN, & KY of which Tri-State Food Bank serves.

“There isn’t a single state or county in America free from child hunger, and it is within our collective power to change that and ensure that today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, chief executive officer of Feeding America. “The Feeding America nationwide network of food banks is investing in our nation’s future by helping to provide over 146 million meals to children every year. Still, Map the Meal Gap highlights that more must be done. Together food banks, corporations, policymakers, donors, volunteers and advocates can solve hunger.” 

“I encourage everyone to visit the website, map.feedingamerica.org to find out what hunger looks like in their community and get involved to be part of the solution,” Babineaux-Fontenot continued. “One way is to tell Congress to invest in kids during Child Nutrition Reauthorization legislation and increase access to food for kids during the summer. Your voice matters and we can make a difference.”

Overall food insecurity in the Tri-State varies throughout the counties Tri-State Food Bank serves in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. Food insecurity rates in Illinois ranges from a low of 11% of the population in Edwards County up to 23% in Alexander County. The food insecurity rates in Indiana range from a low of 10% of the population in Dubois County up to 16% in Vanderburgh County. And food insecurity rates in Kentucky ranges from a low of 13% of the population in Livingston County up to 19% in Union County. 

Tri-State Food Bank Executive Director Glenn Roberts states, “It is positive news that, from 2016 to 2017, national and local food insecurity rates have dropped, and here in the Tri-State they decreased from 13.4% to 13.0% overall, and from 18.3% to 17.7% for children. Improved economic conditions mean that fewer people are living on the edge. However, 1 in 7 adults and 1 in 6 children still do not always know where their next meal is coming from, and this is unacceptable. And what hasn’t changed is the fervency of our work at Tri-State Food Bank because hunger continues to be a serious problem in this country, especially for our most vulnerable populations – our children, senior citizens, and those living in rural communities. Tri-State Food Bank is passionately committed to fill the gaps where hunger exists, and we invite the community to get involved in our mission by volunteering and/or making food or monetary donations.”

Tri-State Food Bank is a member of Feeding America’s hunger-relief network comprised of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs that together provides food assistance to more than 40 million people in the U.S. struggling with hunger.  Looking back at our work from 2018, Tri-State Food Bank distributed approximately 8.6M pounds of food (7.2M meals) through its 248 partner agencies and schools of which help carry out Kid’s Weekend BackPack food programs, Senior Meal programs, summer feeding sites, soup kitchens, and food pantries. During this time, we were able to serve over 110,000 unique individuals in the Tri-State through a 10% increase in distributions over 2017. 

Map the Meal Gap 2019 uses data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and food price data and analysis provided by Nielsen, a global provider of information and insights. The study is supported by The Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Conagra Brands Foundation and Nielsen. 

Key local findings:

  • Child Food Insecurity in the Tri-State is nearly 1% higher than the national average (17.7% locally compared to 17% nationally)
  • Overall Food Insecurity in the Tri-State is 0.5% higher than the national average (13% locally compared to 12.5% nationally)
  • There are 34,990 Food Insecure Children in the Tri-State

The study’s findings underscore the extent of need that remains in communities in the Tri-State area and across the U.S., despite national measures from the USDA that indicate overall improvement.

Dr. Craig Gundersen, Professor of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois, Executive Director of the National Soybean Research Laboratory and a member of Feeding America’s Technical Advisory Group is the lead researcher of Map the Meal Gap 2019. 

This is the ninth consecutive year that Feeding America has conducted the Map the Meal Gap study. 

The Map the Meal Gap 2019 interactive map allows policymakers, state agencies, corporate partners, food banks and advocates to develop integrated strategies to fight hunger on a community level.

A summary of the findings, an interactive map of the United States, and the full report are available at map.feedingamerica.org. 

Join the conversation about Map the Meal Gap 2019 on Twitter using #MealGap.

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