Household Food Security in the United States

 In 2009, 17.4 million, or 14.7 percent, of U.S. households did not have sufficient access to food, according to a new U.S. Department of Agriculture Report. This is essentially unchanged from 14.6 percent in 2008 and remains the highest documented rate of food insecurity since 1995, when data for food security were first collected.

About one-third of food-insecure households experienced a severe range of food insecurity characterized by disrupted eating patterns within the household and some household members foregoing food. Although children are usually protected from disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake, children along with adults experienced severe food insecurity in 469,000, or 1.2 percent, of households. Additionally, rates of food insecurity were substantially higher among households with incomes below the poverty line, among households with children headed by single parents and among black and Hispanic households.

The report was released by the USDA’s Economic Research Service in November 2010. Data for the report are from an annual survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau as a supplement to the monthly Current Population Survey. The 2009 food security survey covered 46,000 households.

Read the report.