about

hunger

Food insecurity is a real condition that can result from hunger, it can be defined in a variety of ways:​

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• You don’t know where your next meal is coming from

• You don’t know if you have enough food to provide three meals a day for your family

• You don’t have reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food

• You skip your dinner meal so that your children will have enough to eat

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The number of people in the United States struggling with food insecurity is astounding:

• 1 in 8 people struggle with hunger. This means that 41 million people in the United States do not have consistent access to enough nutritious food to lead  a healthy life (Feeding America).

• 13 million children (1 in 6) in the United States face hunger (Feeding America)

• 4,152 children ages 5 to 17 in the Utica City School District live in families at poverty income levels (US Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates - 2017)

• 30.4% of the City of Utica’s population are determined to be at poverty level (2013-2017 American Community Survey on Poverty Status)

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The impact of food insecurity includes:

• High levels of stress, anxiety and depression caused by worry over how to afford enough food

• Poor school performance and social interaction with peers by children who are hungry

• An even more challenging experience for the senior population that is limited by a fixed income and faced with increased health expenses, physical limitations and complex nutritional needs

• An increase in the consumption of high calorie foods with little nutritional value since they are more affordable. This can result in long-term health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.