SoSA | Hunger in America

Gleaning America's Fields ~ Feeding America's Hungry

Pounds of food wasted in the U.S. since this page loaded:

Since the beginning of 2013:

Reports on U.S. Hunger

Latest USDA Report

Economic Research Report of September 2012. - 14.9 percent of U.S. households were food insecure sometime during 2011.

Report Summary

Full Report

Food Loss in the United States

Estimating & Addressing America's Food Losses - This is the landmark 1997 report that estimates food loss in various parts of America's food system

USDA Food Loss Report

National Poverty Map

From Mint.com comes this interactive map of poverty in America. Check the 2009 poverty rates in your state.

Interactive Poverty Map

Feeding America Study

Hunger in America 2010 is the largest study of domestic hunger, providing comprehensive and statistically-valid data on our emergency food distribution system

U.S. Hunger Study

Sodexo Foundation Report

Hunger has a cost far beyond human suffering. The Sodexo Foundation researched the monetary cost of hunger to the United States. It found hunger costs far more than it would take to ensure that no citizen is at risk of hunger.

Cost of Hunger Report

Hunger in America: 2012 United States Hunger and Poverty Facts

This report is from the World Hunger Education Service. It is a compilation of many different studies.

Hunger in America: 2012

U.S. Mayors Hunger Report

The U.S. Conference of Mayors issued a 2007 report about homelessness and hunger in American cities. It found that main causes of hunger and homelessness in cities are poverty, unemployment, and high housing costs.

Mayors Report

Hunger in America

We have the means to end hunger in America as the first step to ending global hunger. In fact, that there is enough food produced now to feed everyone.

In the United States, according to the USDA, 27 percent of all the food produced each year is lost at the retail, consumer, and food service levels. That turns out to be about nearly 1.5 tons of food per year for every man, woman, and child in the United States who faces hunger. To put it another way, in the U.S. we throw away about 263 million pounds of food a day... every single day! And much of what is wasted actually is just surplus food. It is perfectly edible. And that doesn't even count the food left in the fields or discarded before delivery.

You can see by the counter to the left how much food has gone to waste this year, and how much has been lost just since this page was loaded in your browser. Again, much of what goes to waste is surplus food. It is nutritious and edible. And while all that good food is being wasted, there are more than 40 million Americans who struggle daily to get enough to eat. Nearly half of these people are children. A large number are elderly. But no matter who they are, or where they live, or why they are impoverished, there is no excuse for anyone to go hungry in America when so much food goes to waste.

Read more about food waste

U.S. Hunger Facts

Poverty is the leading cause of hunger in America. More than 40 million people in the United States live below the poverty line and are at risk of hunger.

More than 14 percent of U.S. households struggle to put enough food on the table. More than 48 million Americans—including 16.2 million children—live in these households.

Source: Household Food Security in the United States, 2010 . U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, September 2011. (Table 1A, Table 1B)

More than one in five children is at risk of hunger. Among African-Americans and Latinos, nearly one in three children is at risk of hunger.

Source: Household Food Security in the United States, 2010 . U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, September 2011. (Table 1B, Table 3).

Census Bureau poverty data

Solving Hunger in America

There is not just one cause of hunger, which means there is not just one solution. But one thing is clear: hunger in America is solvable. It isn't an issue of producing more food, because we produce more than enough to feed everyone already. It is instead an issue of will. The simple truth is that hunger exists in the United States because we Americans tolerate it.

Every American can do something to end hunger in the U.S. Involvement begins with being informed. Read the reports about hunger linked on this page and from other sources, and consider the solutions they propose. You can also get personally involved in helping those in need by providing financial assistance, and volunteering with our ministry.

Get involved in ending hunger in America

Links to U.S. Poverty Research Organizations

	Institute for Research on Poverty		Institute for Policy Research
	National Poverty Center		Rural Poverty Resources
	Center for Poverty Research		Center for Children in Poverty
	Center on Urban Poverty		Institute on Race and Poverty

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