Fighting hunger one meal at a time
A study released this week by Feeding America should give Georgians pause. But first, let’s take a look at the overall American picture. Feeding America data states that 46.5 million Americans are food insecure. What exactly does being “food insecure” mean? Simply, about one in seven Americans struggle to get enough to eat, according to Feeding America.
That’s hard to understand in a land with so much plenty, but hunger exists in every community in the United States and hits all sorts of communities, particularly poor, minority and elderly communities. Poverty and food insecurity run in the same circles and it even persists in farming communities.
The impacts of food insecurity are particularly acute in the young and old and manifest themselves in a number of bad health outcomes. In areas with severe food insecurity there are also higher rates of diabetes and other maladies.
A Feeding America report: From Paycheck to Pantry: Hunger in Working America, showed that:
• Nearly 89 percent of client households with employment report an annual household income of $30,000 or less.
• More than 69 percent of working client households live at or below the federal poverty line, which was $23,550 for a family of four in 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• The median monthly household income of Feeding America network clients is $927.
• Twenty percent of households served by the Feeding America network has at least one member that has served in the military.
What does that look like locally? First from a state perspective: According to Feeding America, 17.7 percent of Georgia’s population is food insecure. That’s 1.8 million people. Thirty percent are above 185 percent of the poverty line, meaning they don’t qualify for assistance. Sixteen percent fall between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty line and don’t qualify, but 54 percent live below the threshold and do qualify.
In Bibb County, the food insecurity rate is 23.8 percent, and 60 percent live below the 130-percent threshold level. In Houston County the food insecurity rate of 16.3 percent; Twiggs County, 22.9; Peach County, 22.1 percent; Monroe County, 14.8 percent.
The Georgia county with the highest food insecurity rate is Clay County in southwest Georgia at 29.8 percent, but Hancock County is not far behind at 27.1 percent. And it is a fact that rural counties are hard hit, urban areas are also food insecure. Chatham County that includes Savannah has a food insecurity rate of 19.6; Richmond County, home of Augusta, 24.1; Muscogee County, including Columbus, 21.7. The Atlanta area is also in the food insecure loop: Fulton County, 19.6; DeKalb, 20.7; Clayton, 24.2. In south Georgia’s Lowndes County home to Valdosta, the rate is 21.0. You can look up the Feeding America map with information about every county in the United States at http://map.feedingamerica.org.
It is apparent that hunger is something many people and families can’t escape, even those families that are busily trying to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Difficult to do when you don’t know how you’re going to make ends meet from paycheck to paycheck.
The question is, what do we do once armed with this information? Chances are, no matter where you live in this country, there is a food bank near you. Earlier this month we told the story in this newspaper about the plight of Loaves & Fishes, a 50 year-old ministry that does more than help provide meals but other needed services as well. There’s the Middle Georgia Food Bank that serves 24 counties and Mulberry Methodist and other churches and organizations from the Rescue Mission to the Salvation Army that are on the front lines everyday trying to help individuals and families in need. All could use donations of resources, money and time — and our prayers.
This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 9:58 PM with the headline "Fighting hunger one meal at a time."