November 2009: New Food Security numbers for Wisconsin
The annual USDA report on food insecurity in the US was just released, and the story is not good for the US or for Wisconsin. While not terribly surprising given the economy, the numbers are still rather staggering.
As detailed in the report, Household Food Security in the United States 2008, 14.6% of households in the US were food insecure in 2008, a huge jump from 11.1% in 2007. This represented over 49 million Americans. Included were 5.7% of households that experienced very low food security -- the most severe form of food insecurity. These figures were the highest recorded in 14 years (when food security was first measured in the US).
In Wisconsin, we also saw an increase. For the 3-year period 2006-2008, 10.1% of Wisconsin households were food insecure, with 3.7% experiencing very low food security. For comparison, food insecurity in Wisconsin for the 3-year period 2003-2005 was 9.5% and very low food security was 2.7%.
Consider, too, that these figures are from 2008 (US) and 2006-8 (WI) and are likely to continue to climb given unemployment trends this past year.
The report shows that food insecurity grew nationally for all types of households, and the increases were largest for single parents with children and for Hispanic households.
What does this mean for you?
If you are currently working on hunger issues or with low income families, this is evidence that our work is more critical than ever. Thanks for your efforts and keep up the good work! These data may also help you communicate about the issue of hunger in your communities…we still have a long way to go in raising awareness.
If you are not already doing so, stay tuned to the work of the Wisconsin Food Security Consortium. We meet quarterly to discuss strategies and learn from each other on a range of topics related to hunger.
Food security in the Wisconsin media
Due to the press surrounding the release of the Household Food Security in the United States report, two major media outlets in Wisconsin: the Wisconsin State Journal and Wisconsin Public Radio picked up on the local story.
- To download and listen to an archive of the Kathleen Dunn Show's 11/18 program on WPR, click here. Interviewed on the program is WFSC co-vice chair Kadi Row and Maura Daly and Bonnie Bellehumeur of Feeding America.
- To view the State Journal article, click here. Interviewed for this article are Kadi Row and WFSC steering commitee member Judi Bartfeld.
Support for this site has been made possible by the Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Council of Churches, and the Wisconsin Community Action Program Association.