Food Insecure Populations

One “bad month” can be enough to plunge a household into missing meals. Lay-offs at work, unexpected car maintenance or an accident on the job can suddenly force a family to choose between buying food and paying bills. Working families across America face countless situations that can result in hunger.

That’s why many working families, including thousands of households who don’t qualify for federal nutrition assistance, depend on the Feeding America network of food banks to help make ends meet during difficult times. The Feeding America network serves nearly every community in the United States, helping more than 42 million people — including 13 million children and 7 million seniors.

Lack of access to healthy food can have a wide impact, depending on each individual’s circumstances. Some of the most common, yet complex, effects of hunger include:

• serious health complications, especially when people facing hunger are forced to choose between spending money on food and medicine or medical care
• damage to a child’s ability to learn and grow
• difficult decisions for seniors — often living on fixed incomes — such as choosing between paying for food and critical healthcare.