New "food hardship" research released today

FRAC released today “How Hungry is America?” its latest look at Gallup survey data on food hardship. This report reviews 2014 data for the nation, every state, and 100 of the country’s largest MSAs. Here are five things you should know.

1. One in six American households (17.2 percent) said in 2014 that there had been times over the past 12 months that they didn’t have enough money to buy food that they or their families needed.
2. What that means – the economy is improving, but tens of millions of people are still struggling to afford the basics.
3. There’s not one state that is free from hunger. Even the “best” state on the report’s Food Hardship Index, North Dakota, has one in eleven households struggling to afford enough food. Nine states have more than one in five households struggling.
4. Such high food hardship rates are unacceptable, yet some in Congress continue to propose huge cuts to proven and effective programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), school meals programs, and other supports.
5. What you can do: Tell your Members of Congress that you want them to solve hunger by strengthening our nation’s safety net. Oppose efforts to cut nutrition programs. Add your name today to our Support SNAP petition.

Share the news: What is #foodhardship? That’s the struggle to afford enough food. See how it affects your state in @fractweets report. http://bit.ly/1N3jOO0

About the Report
How Hungry is America? contains data throughout 2014 for every state and (for 2013 and 2014 combined) 100 of the country’s largest metropolitan areas (MSA). The data were gathered as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index project, which has been interviewing hundreds of households daily since January 2008. FRAC has analyzed responses to the question: “Have there been times in the past twelve months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?” A “yes” answer to this question is considered to signal that the household experienced food hardship. The full report is available at www.frac.org.