Hunger
"Hunger is a third-world problem"
"There is plenty of food so there can't be hungry people in
America"
"As long as there are Food Stamps, people won't go hungry"
More than 35.9 million people live in poverty in the United States. It's
hard to believe this can happen in a country so rich in resources. How
can people be hungry when there is just so much food?
The problem is not the lack of food, but limited access to the food which is available. Food Banks provide that access by linking people to food.
About Poverty
There are two different versions of the federal poverty measure: the poverty threshold and the poverty guideline. The poverty threshold is updated annually by the Census Bureau and used for statistical purposes.The poverty guidelines are issued by the Department of Health and Human Services and are used to determine if a person is eligible for a federal program, such as the National School Lunch Program or Food Stamps.
Food Insecurity
Food, especially wholesome food, is necessary for a happy and healthy life. The Department of Agriculture conducts a Food Insecurity Survey to determine what percent of American households have members who deal with food insecurity and food insecurity with hunger. Food insecurity without hunger indicates households who experienced multiple instances of having food access problems, but did not actually reduce their intake of food. Food insecurity with hunger indicates that someone in the family was forced to go without food due to lack of access to that food.
In America, over 12 million households were food insecure during 2002. 12.9% of Georgia's population was determined to be food insecure and 3.5% did suffer from hunger throughout the year.
Georgia and Northeast Georgia
Georgia's population, according to 2005 census data, is 9,072,576 people. Of these 1,206,652 live below the poverty threshold--or 13.3%.
- Clarke County has the highest poverty rate of all the 14 counties within the Food Bank's service area at a whopping 28% (the average rate in the service area is 15.59%)
- One out of seven senior citizens living in poverty in Northeast Georgia reside in Clarke County.
- 25% of all children in Clarke County live in poverty compared to 15.4% average rate in the remaining counties in our service area.
- 25,000 children qualify for free or reduced priced lunches in the schools in our region.
For more information visit censtats
National Information
According to 2003 Census information, the official poverty rate rose from 12.1% in 2002 to 12.5% in 2003. This was in increase of more than one million people to make the total number of individuals in the United States who are living under the threshold of poverty to be 35.9 million. The number of Whites and Asians in poverty increased from 2002 to 2003, while the number of Hispanics and Blacks remained unchanged.
The number of children in poverty, as well as the percentage of children in poverty, over the past year increased as well, while other age groups did not change. There are 12.9 million children under 18 years of age living in poverty, an increase of .8 million children. The percent of children living in poverty rose from 16.7% to 17.6%. The percentage of senior citizens above the age of 65 years old remains at 10.2%
