Hunger exists everywhere in America.
Feeding America just released their Map the Meal Gap 2024 report. What the report shows us is clear: Hunger affects our neighbors in every county across America, including in Lane County, where the food insecurity rate in 2021 was 11.9%. This latest report reveals that number was 14.6% in Lane County in 2022 (that’s a nearly 23% increase).
The food insecurity rate for children in Lane County was 14.5% in 2021. In 2022, that number was 20.2% – a 39% increase.
Food insecurity exists in every corner of the U.S., worsened by high grocery costs causing budgets to rise and the expiration of pandemic-era policies that helped reduce hunger. In some counties, nearly half of children are food insecure, and Black and Latino people experience much higher rates of food insecurity.
Federal nutrition programs can’t keep up. Nearly 50% of people facing hunger are unlikely to qualify for SNAP, the cornerstone of federal nutrition assistance.
There are ways we can help our neighbors facing hunger in each and every one of our communities: Federal nutrition programs are crucial to closing the meal gap, helping to reduce food insecurity for millions of hardworking people.
See more about Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap