Although related, food insecurity and poverty are not the same.  Unemployment rather than poverty is a stronger predictor of food insecurity.
Povertyi
  • In 2011, 46.2 million people (15.0 percent) were in poverty.
  • In 2011, 9.5 million (11.8 percent) families were in poverty.
  • In 2011, 26.5 million (13.7 percent) of people ages 18-64 were in poverty.
  • In 2011, 16.1 million (22.0 percent) children under the age of 18 were in poverty.
  • In 2011, 3.6 million (9.0 percent) seniors 65 and older were in poverty.
  • The overall Poverty Rate according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure is 16.0%, as compared with the official poverty rate of 15.1%.ii
  • Under the Supplemental Poverty Measure, there are 49.1 million people living in poverty, 2.5 million more than are represented by the official poverty measure (46.2 million).iii
Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security iv
  • In 2011, 50.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 33.5 million adults and 16.7 million children.
  • In 2011, 14.9 percent of households (17.9 million households) were food insecure.
  • In 2011, 5.7 percent of households (6.8 million households) experienced very low food security.
  • In 2011, households with children reported food insecurity at a significantly higher rate than those without children, 20.6 percent compared to 12.2percent.
  • In 2011, households that had higher rates of food insecurity than the national average included households with children (20.6 percent), especially households with children headed by single women (36.8 percent) or single men (24.9 percent), Black non-Hispanic households (25.1 percent) and Hispanic households (26.2 percent).
  • In 2011, 8.8 percent of seniors living alone (1 million households) were food insecure.
  • Food insecurity exists in every county in America, ranging from a low of 5 percent in Steele County, ND to a high of 37 percent in Holmes County, MS.v
Seven states exhibited statistically significant higher household food insecurity rates than the U.S. national average 2009-2011: iv
United States                      14.7%
Mississippi                          19.2%
Texas                                    18.5%
Arkansas                              19.2%
Alabama                               17.4%
Georgia                                 17.4%
Florida                                  16.2%
North Carolina                    17.1%

Use of Emergency Food Assistance and Federal Food Assistance Programs vi
  • In 2011, 5.1 percent of all U.S. households (6.1 million households) accessed emergency food from a food pantry one or more times. vii
  • In 2011, 57.2 percent of food-insecure households participated in at least one of the three major Federal food assistance programs –Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly Food Stamp Program), The National School Lunch Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. viii
  • Feeding America provides emergency food assistance to an estimated 37 million low-income people annually, a 46 percent increase from 25 million since Hunger in America 2006. ix
  • Among members of Feeding America, 74 percent of pantries, 65 percent of kitchens, and 54 percent of shelters reported that there had been an increase since 2006 in the number of clients who come to their emergency food program sites.x


Unemployment Rates for States
Annual AverageRankings
Year: 2011
Rank
State
Rate
UNITED STATES
8.9
1
NORTH DAKOTA
3.5
2
NEBRASKA
4.4
3
SOUTH DAKOTA
4.7
4
NEW HAMPSHIRE
5.4
5
VERMONT
5.6
6
IOWA
5.9
7
WYOMING
6.0
8
OKLAHOMA
6.2
8
VIRGINIA
6.2
10
MINNESOTA
6.4
11
HAWAII
6.7
11
KANSAS
6.7
11
UTAH
6.7
14
MONTANA
6.8
15
MARYLAND
7.0
16
DELAWARE
7.3
16
LOUISIANA
7.3
18
MASSACHUSETTS
7.4
18
NEW MEXICO
7.4
20
MAINE
7.5
20
WISCONSIN
7.5
22
ALASKA
7.6
23
PENNSYLVANIA
7.9
23
TEXAS
7.9
25
ARKANSAS
8.0
25
WEST VIRGINIA
8.0
27
NEW YORK
8.2
28
COLORADO
8.3
29
MISSOURI
8.6
29
OHIO
8.6
31
IDAHO
8.7
32
CONNECTICUT
8.8
33
ALABAMA
9.0
33
INDIANA
9.0
35
TENNESSEE
9.2
35
WASHINGTON
9.2
37
NEW JERSEY
9.3
38
ARIZONA
9.5
38
KENTUCKY
9.5
38
OREGON
9.5
41
GEORGIA
9.8
41
ILLINOIS
9.8
43
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
10.2
44
MICHIGAN
10.3
44
SOUTH CAROLINA
10.3
46
FLORIDA
10.5
46
NORTH CAROLINA
10.5
48
MISSISSIPPI
10.7
49
RHODE ISLAND
11.3
50
CALIFORNIA
11.7
51
NEVADA
13.5


i U.S. Census Bureau. Carmen  DeNavas-Walt, B. Proctor, C. Lee.  Income, Poverty, and Heath Insurance Coverage in the United States:  2010. September 2011.
ii The Research Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2010. (2011). U.S. Census Bureau.
iii Ibid.
iv USDA. Coleman-Jensen, A., Nord, M., Andrews, M., & Carlson, S. Household Food Security in the United States in 2011.
v Feeding America. Gundersen, G., Waxman, E., Engelhard, E., Del Vecchio, T., Satoh, A., & Lopez-Betanzos, A. Map the Meal Gap 2012.
vi USDA. Coleman-Jensen, A., Nord, M., Andrews, M., & Carlson, S. Household Food Security in the United States in 2011.
vii lbid.
viii lbid.
ixRhoda Cohen, J., Mabli, F., Potter, Z., Zhao. Mathematica Policy Research, Feeding America. Hunger in America 2010.

x lbid.
xi   U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2011 Annual Average Unemployment Rates.

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