Landmark New Study Reveals an Unprecedented Number of Mainers Seeking Emergency Food Assistance
Largest, Most Comprehensive Report Ever Conducted On Emergency Food Distribution Reports 44,000 Children and 16,000 Seniors in Need
Auburn, ME – A landmark study released today by Good Shepherd Food-Bank and Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, reports that more than 107,900 different people in Maine, including more than 44,000 children and 16,000 seniors, receive emergency food each year through the Food-Bank.
Hunger in America 2010 is the first research study to capture the significant connection between the recent economic downturn and an increased need for emergency food assistance. The number of children and adults in need of food as a result of experiencing food insecurity has significantly increased.
In Maine, more than 47 percent of client households are experiencing very low food security—or hunger. An estimated 36,800 people receive emergency food assistance each week from a food pantry, soup kitchen, or other agency served by Good Shepherd Food-Bank. Previously the Food-Bank estimated that it served 18,000 people each week.
An estimated 5.7 million people receive emergency food assistance each week from a food pantry, soup kitchen, or other agency served by one of Feeding America’s more than 200 food banks, including Good Shepherd Food-Bank. This is a 27 percent increase over numbers reported in Hunger in America 2006, which reported that 4.5 million people were served each week.
“With unemployment over 13 percent, these numbers do not come as a surprise to us. They do, however, reinforce the importance of our job at the Food-Bank,” said Rick Small, executive director of the Food-Bank. “Choosing between food and medical care or utilities should be a choice that no one has to make. We will continue to work on the front lines feeding more than 36,000 people each week, through area food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and after school programs. Emergency food assistance is a critical link to help people through times of crisis.”
“It is morally reprehensible that we live in the wealthiest nation in the world where one in six people are struggling to make choices between food and other basic necessities,” said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America. “These are choices that no one should have to make, but particularly households with children. Insufficient nutrition has adverse effects on the physical, behavioral and mental health, and academic performance of children. It is critical that we ensure that no child goes to bed hungry in America as they truly are our engine of economic growth and future vitality.”
The methodology incorporated into the 2010 study includes data collected from February through June, 2009. Good Shepherd Food-Bank conducted face-to-face interviews with 159 people seeking emergency food at food pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency feeding programs, as well as interviews with more than 428 agencies that provide food assistance.
Nationally, Feeding America collected quantitative and qualitative feedback from 61,000 face-to-face in-depth interviews with people seeking emergency food assistance and more than 37,000 agency surveys, making this study the largest, most-comprehensive ever conducted on domestic hunger.
USDA reported in November 2009 that an estimated 49 million people, including 17 million children, are at risk of hunger in this country. Hunger In America 2010 reinforces the dramatically increasing need for food assistance in the United States.
The key findings for Good Shepherd Food-Bank include:
- 41% of the members of households served by the Food-Bank are children under 18 years old.
- 11% of the members of households are children age 0-5 years
- 15% of the members of households are elderly.
- 30% of households include at least one employed adult.
- 56% of clients served by the Food-Bank report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel.
- 32% of households served by the Food-Bank report having at least one household member in poor health.
- 57% of client households served are receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits; however, it is likely that many more are eligible.
The entire local study is available for here. The full national report is available on Feeding America's web site at www.feedingamerica.org/hungerstudy
