More than 13.8 percent of households in Minnesota reported in 2009 not having enough money to buy food that they needed during the prior twelve months for themselves or their family, according to a new report released by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC).

For the first time, data on food hardship – the inability to afford enough food – is available for every state, every Congressional District and for 100 of the country’s largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), including Minneapolis/St. Paul/Bloomington.

For the Minneapolis/St. Paul/Bloomington MSA, the food hardship rate for all households was 13.9 percent in 2008-2009. The average was higher for households with children, with 18.6 percent reporting food hardship. Seven out of the 8 Congressional Districts in Minnesota had more than one in ten residents reporting food hardship in 2008-2009.

08-09

Congressional District Rate

1st Timothy J. Walz 11.8%

2nd John Kline 11.5%

3rd Erik Paulsen 9.3%

4th Betty McCollum 15.3%

5th Keith Ellison 17.7%

6th Michele Bachmann 12.9%

7th Collin C. Peterson 13.5%

8th James L. Oberstar 17.4%

“These new data reaffirm what we’re seeing in our local communities and provides a current, on-the-ground look at how pervasive households’ struggle with hunger have become in today’s economy,” said Colleen Moriarty, Executive Director of Hunger Solutions Minnesota. “These findings increase the drumbeat that more must be done, and quickly, to help struggling families.”

The report analyzes survey data that were collected by Gallup and provided to FRAC. The ability to provide such localized data and such up-to-date data comes from Gallup’s partnership with Healthways, interviewing 1,000 households per day almost every day since January 2, 2008 as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index project. Through December 2009, more than 650,000 people have been asked a series of questions on a range of topics including emotional health, physical health, healthy behavior, work environment and access to basic services. Specific to this report, more than 530,000 people were asked whether there were times over the preceding year that they did not have enough money to buy food they or their family needed.

The Gallup survey question on food hardship is very similar to one posed by the Census Bureau and analyzed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in its official measure of food insecurity, but because of sample size Gallup provides us with a closer, more localized and more recent look at food hardship. Official government data on food insecurity have a nearly one-year time lag and do not go below the state level.

“The data in this report show that food hardship – running out of money to buy the food that families need – is truly a national problem. It is a national problem in the sense that the rate for the nation is so high,” said Jim Weill, president of FRAC. “And it is a national problem in the sense that rates are high in virtually every state, Metropolitan Statistical Area, and Congressional District.”

These new numbers are especially relevant as Congress looks at jobs legislation and other strategies to mitigate the damage of the recession, and reauthorizes child nutrition legislation this year. Hunger Solutions Minnesota has joined FRAC in calling for improvements in a range of federal nutrition programs, including SNAP/ Food Support and child nutrition programs, and for more efforts to boost the economy, create more well-paying jobs and reduce unemployment.

“President Obama has set a goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015,” said Moriarty. “As we can see with these new data, the struggle with hunger is a serious problem here in Minnesota for children and adults. Not a minute can be wasted between now and 2015 if we’re to reach that goal. All corners of government, the private sector and nonprofits must work together in order to implement long-term strategies that will battle our nation’s hunger crisis.”

ABOUT HUNGER SOLUTIONS MINNESOTA

Hunger Solutions Minnesota is a comprehensive hunger relief organization that works to end hunger in Minnesota. We take action to assure food security for all Minnesotans by supporting over 300 agencies that provide food to those in need, advancing sound public policy, and guiding grassroots advocacy. HSM advocates for the maximum use of all federal public nutrition dollars available and works to improve low income Minnesotans’ access to all nutrition programs. The HSM Minnesota Food HelpLine (1-888-711-1151) helps enroll low-income Minnesotans in the Food Support (Food Stamps) program and helps callers find emergency food assistance in their area. For further information, visit http://www.hungersolutions.org/ or call 651-789-9843. The full food hardship report is available at FRAC

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