Eleven percent  of US families (12 million families) were food insecure during 2006

Hunger Notes

About one-third of food-insecure households (4.6 million, or 4.0 percent of all U.S. households) had very low food security, essentially unchanged from 2005 (3.9 percent). In households with very low food security, the food intake of some household members was reduced and their normal eating patterns were disrupted because of the household’s food insecurity. The other two-thirds of food-insecure households obtained enough food to avoid substantial disruptions in eating patterns and food intake, using a variety of coping strategies, such as eating less varied diets, participating in Federal food and nutrition assistance programs, or obtaining emergency food from community food pantries or emergency kitchens.

Even when resources are inadequate to provide food for the entire family, children are usually shielded from the disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake that characterize very low food security. Children, as well as adults, experienced very low food security in 221,000 households (0.6 percent of households with children). This rate has remained between 0.5 and 0.7 percent (statistically unchanged) since 1999.

The number of households with very low food security on a given day was a small fraction of the number that experienced this condition “at some time during the year.” On average, households classified as having very low food security experienced the condition in 7 months of the year and for a few days in each of those months. On an average day in November 2006, for example, an estimated 600,000 to 877,000 households (0.5 - 0.8 percent of all U.S. households) experienced very low food security, and children experienced these conditions in 29,000 to 33,000 households (0.07 to 0.08 percent of all U.S. households with children).

The prevalence of food insecurity varied considerably among different types of households. Rates of food insecurity were substantially higher than the national average for households with incomes near or below the Federal poverty line, households with children headed by single women, and Black and Hispanic households.

Geographically, food insecurity was more common in large cities and rural areas and, regionally, more prevalent in the South. Food-secure households spent more for food than food-insecure households.

In 2006, the median U.S. household spent $41.67 per person for food each week—about 28 percent more than the cost of USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan (a low-cost food “market basket” that meets dietary standards, taking into account household size and the age and gender of household members). The median food-insecure household spent 1 percent more than the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan, while the median food-secure household spent 32 percent more than the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan.

Some food-insecure households turn to Federal food and nutrition assistance programs or emergency food providers in their communities when they are unable to obtain enough food. Just over half of the food-insecure households surveyed in 2006 said that in the previous month they had participated in one or more of the three largest Federal food and nutrition assistance programs—the National School Lunch Program, the Food Stamp Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). About 21 percent of food-insecure households obtained emergency food from a food pantry at some time during the year, and 2.2 percent ate one or more meals at an emergency kitchen in their community.

Data for the food security reports come from an annual survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The 2006 food security survey covered about 46,500 households and was a representative sample of the U.S. civilian population of 115 million households. The food security survey asked one adult respondent in each household a series of questions about experiences and behaviors that indicate food insecurity. The food security status of the household was assessed based on the number of food-insecure conditions reported (such as not being able to afford balanced meals, cutting the size of meals because there was not enough money for food, or being hungry because there was not enough money for food).

This article is based on the 2006 Household Food Security report summary prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture which may be viewed at http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err49/err49_reportsummary.pdf.  The full report may be viewed at http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err49/err49.pdf