The Changing Faces of Hunger

Shortly before Thanksgiving, America's Second Harvest (ASH), the network of nonprofit food banks, released its report about emergency food distribution in America. Based on data collected in the spring of 2001, it found that 7 million Americans receive food assistance from charities each week. Over the course of the previous year, the total was 23.3 million, up 9 percent from 1997 when a similar survey was completed.

The report confirms a wealth of anecdotal evidence that despite the robust economy of the late 1990s, more Americans are seeking the help of private charities as a part of their efforts to meet basic nutritional needs.

Specific findings suggest that the people receiving food assistance look increasingly like the rest of us. As compared to 1997, households receiving food assistance in 2001 were less likely to be homeless, were less likely to be receiving welfare, were less likely to have only one parent present, and were less likely to be receiving food stamps.

As compared to 1997, households in the 2001 study were more likely to rely on wages as their primary source of income, were more likely to have a member who is employed, were more likely to have access to a working car, and were more likely to have a high school diploma or GED.

The report also suggests that responsibility for food assistance is shifting from public to private sources. The decline in Food Stamp Program participation was dramatic - among households seeking help from food pantries and cupboards, the drop was from 42 percent in 1997 to 31 percent in 2001. Yet in the private sector, need continued to climb. Eight out of ten emergency food providers reported that they are serving more people than they had a year earlier.

Robert H. Forney, ASH president and chief executive officer, characterized the findings as "alarming" but maintained that hunger in the U.S. remains a solvable problem. "Most of all, we need the continued support of the myriad of federal nutrition programs."

For the first time, the ASH study used the USDA Food Security Index to assess the severity of food insecurity. The 6-question module includes questions on the frequency that households, because of a lack of resources, were unable to eat balanced or regular meals. Those with the most severe experience (e.g., children forced to skip meals, adults unable to eat for an entire day) were characterized as "food insecure with hunger". Among those seeking food assistance, 3.3 million households fell into the most severe category of need.

Five Pennsylvania food banks (Erie, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre and Philadelphia) participated in the study. Hunger Action will release a summary of the Pennsylvania data in early 2002.

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