9.5 Percent of Minnesota Households Struggling with Hunger

Hunger Solutions Minnesota Says Situation is Growing Worse

[St. Paul, MN] – November 19, 2008 – Minnesota had 9.5 percent of its people living in households that struggled with hunger or were “food insecure” 2005-2007, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) annual report.

Food insecurity is the USDA term given to describe households that struggle with affording enough food. Nationally, more than 36.2 million people lived in households that were food insecure in 2007 – up from 35.5 million in 2006 and 33.2 million in 2000.

Minnesota is one of two states with the largest increases in prevalence.

MN Hunger Facts

• In 2007 there were nearly 2 million visits to food shelves in Minnesota. The food shelves distributed over 47 million pounds of food.

• There has been a 67% increase in food shelf visits in Minnesota since 2000.

• 11% increase in food shelf visits Jan – Jun of 2008

• 12% of our children live in poverty

• In 2007, 7 million free or emergency meals were served to people in need.

Rising joblessness, falling wages, and rapidly rising food costs mean that more and more families are stretched to the limit and beyond. In August 2008, SNAP/Food Stamps participation in Minnesota leapt by 5.3% over August 2007.

Minnesota continues to underutilize the food support program.

• Nearly 475,000 are eligible to receive food support yet only 60% are using the program.

• With full participation, the state of Minnesota could have an additional $394 million of federal dollars in the local economy.

Because of the timing of the survey and USDA data analysis, the new report represents the late 2007 Census Bureau survey. Everything we are seeing in Minnesota tells us that a new survey taken today would undoubtedly show considerably higher numbers of people in food insecure households.

The unemployment rate has increased to 6.5% nationally, and it is above 8.5% in some states. In the second week of November, an additional 516,000 workers filed for unemployment insurance, the highest level of new claims filed since the aftermath of September 2001.

Over 890,000 unemployed workers already have exhausted their 13-week extension, and another 1.2 million are projected to exhaust benefits by year’s end. Without these benefits, the Congressional Budget Office finds that about 50% of the long-term unemployed fall under the poverty line.

Hunger Solutions Minnesota is calling for Congress to pass an economic recovery package that includes bolstering Food Stamps benefits and other nutrition and low-income support programs. “A significant boost in SNAP/Food Stamps is a fundamental building block of any fair and effective stimulus package,” said Colleen Moriarty, Executive Director of Hunger Solutions Minnesota “We can further strengthen the economic recovery because food stamps dollars are spent immediately and spent locally.”

Among the 9.5 percent of people in Minnesota households considered to be food insecure during the 2005-2007 period, 3.7 percent were living in households that were considered to have “very low food security.” People that fall into this USDA category had more severe problems experiencing hunger and cutting back or skipping meals on a more frequent basis for both adults and children.

During the 2002-2004 period, 7.2 percent of people in households in Minnesota were considered to be food insecure.

Can we end or reduce hunger?

Read the reports below.

Blueprint to End Hunger

Economic Stimulus for Main Street

School Breakfast Program and Achievement for Poor Children