What is hunger?

Hunger is when a person is unable to eat good, safe, nutritious food for a consistent or long period of time.  Hunger is also known as food insecurity.  1 in 6 Americans struggles with this problem.

Who is affected by food insecurity?  

Unfortunately, food insecurity is a problem everywhere in the world, including America. We often think that hunger only affects the poor or homeless, but that is not true.  Hunger can affect people living above the poverty line as well.  In America, research shows that unemployment (not having a job) is a better way of predicting hunger than poverty rates. 

How does food insecurity affect people?

Food insecurity causes people to have to make many difficult choices.  Americans dealing with food insecurity may have to skip meals every day in order to save enough money to pay for life-saving medicines, to pay for their housing, or to pay for the gas or bus fare to get to work. Food insecurity can also lead to health problems.  According to research done by Feeding America, many Americans dealing with food insecurity regularly buy and eat foods that are high in fat and low in nutrition because these are the cheapest foods available. Regular consumption of these unhealthy foods is what leads to higher rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes among people who are dealing with food insecurity.