Newsroom
February 2, 2010 Contact: Jennifer Gilmore, Executive Director
Feeding America San Diego
(858) 452-3663
NEW STUDY REVEALS 437,500
SAN DIEGO COUNTY RESIDENTS
SEEKING EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE
Largest, Most Comprehensive Report on Domestic Hunger Ever Conducted
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – A landmark study released today by Feeding America San Diego and Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, reports that Feeding America San Diego provides food for an estimated 437,500 different San Diego County residents annually and 201,250 are children under 18 years old. On a national level, Hunger in America 2010 finds that 37 million people - one in eight Americans – including 14 million children and nearly 3 million seniors are receiving emergency food assistance through the Feeding America network of food banks and the agencies they serve. This is an increase of 46 percent over the findings reported four years ago. Feeding America and its network are feeding one million more people each week than in 2006.
“It is a crime that working families and children in San Diego and throughout the United States continue to experience hunger,” said Gary McDonald, president and CEO, Feeding America San Diego. “Seventy percent of our clients are food insecure, meaning they do not always know where they will find their next meal. 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 throughout our country.”
Among the key findings in the Feeding America San Diego report:
• 14% of the members of households are children age 0 to 5 years
• 62% of households include at least one employed adult
• 76% have incomes below the federal poverty level during the previous month.
• 7% are homeless
• 62% had to choose between paying for food and paying their rent or mortgage
• 34% had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care
• 48% had to choose between paying for food and paying for transportation
• 57% had to choose between paying for food and paying for gas for a car
“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 if Feeding America. “These are choices that no one should have to make, but particularly households with children. Insufficient nutrition has an adverse effect 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 s 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. Feeding America San Diego conducted face-to-face interviews with 286 people seeking emergency food at food pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency feeding programs as well as interviews with more than 80 agencies that provide food assistance.
Nationally, Feeding America collected quantitative and qualitative feedback from 61,000 face-to-face 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 full national report is available on Feeding America’s web site (www.FeedingAmerica.org) at Hunger in America 2010. For more information about Feeding America San Diego’s local report including the key highlights, local food distributions or to make a donation, please visit www.FeedingAmericaSanDiego.org. or call (858) 452-FOOD (3663)
About Feeding America San Diego
Established in July of 2007, Feeding America San Diego is San Diego County’s largest distributor of donated food and the only Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest) affiliate in San Diego County. Feeding America San Diego’s mission is “To feed the hungry; to advocate; to educate.” For more information, please visit www.FeedingAmericaSanDiego.org or call (858) 452-FOOD (3663).
About Feeding America
Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Seving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support more than 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. Feeding America is based in Chicago. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit www.feedingamerica.org. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow our news on Twitter at twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.
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