Food insecurity is a severe enough problem in the United States that the Census Household Pulse Survey, meant to measure the effects of COVID-19 on the population, collects information on food scarcity, which is defined as “Percentage of adults in households where there was either sometimes or often not enough to eat in the last 7 days.” The national figure is 10.2%. It is highest in Mississippi, where the figure was 19.6% recently.
The study also reports on food assistance for children. The problem did not start during the pandemic, but it may have worsened as the plight of the poorest Americans has not changed much over time,
Food insecurity often correlates with a family’s lack of affordable housing, isolation in high-poverty areas and few or no convenient access to affordable healthy foods. It exists in urban and rural communities alike and affects the elderly as well as the young. Black and Hispanic families are disproportionately more likely to be poor and thus food insecure. According to the nonprofit group Feeding America, about 24% of Black Americans experienced food insecurity in 2020, while Black children are three times more likely than white children to live in a food-insecure household.
To determine the state with the worst food insecurity, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed The State of Childhood Obesity, a project from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. States were ranked based on the percentage of residents who were food insecure, meaning they “experienced limited or uncertain access to adequate healthy food at some point during the year.” Supplemental data came from the same report.
As mentioned, the state with the worst food insecurity is Mississippi. Here are the details:
- Food insecurity rate: 20.1%
- Children ages 2 to 4 using WIC: 14.8% (20th highest)
- Median household income: $45,792 (the lowest)
- Poverty rate: 19.6% (the highest)
Click here to see all the states with the most unreliable access to healthy food.
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