No Shelf Left Empty
Helping America's Food Pantries Keep
Their Shelves Filled
The American Aid
Foundation is working with businesses to host "Events", specific to
the individual business, to not only collect much needed food items
but also to bring public awareness to the plight of the community
food pantries whom can not keep food on their shelves to help those
in need. You can help by either making a donation (monetary or
In-kind) to the Foundation or
contact us to see about hosting a "No
Shelf Left Empty" event to collect food for the local food pantry
that serves your community.
Hunger in
America: 2012 United States Hunger and Poverty Facts
Hunger in the United States
Three years after the
onset of the financial and economic crisis, hunger remains high in
the United States. The financial and economic crisis that erupted in
2008 caused a dramatic increase in hunger in the United States. This
high level of hunger continues in 2010, according to the latest
government report (with the most recent statistics) released in
September 2011 (Coleman-Jensen
2011).
- In 2010, 17.2 million households, 14.5
percent of households (approximately one in seven), were food
insecure, the highest number ever recorded in the United States
1 (Coleman-Jensen 2011,
p. v.)
- In 2010, about one-third of
food-insecure households (6.7 million households, or 5.4 percent
of all U.S. households) had very low food security (compared
with 4.7 million households (4.1 percent) in 2007. 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
(Coleman-Jensen 2011, p. v.,
Nord 2009, p. iii.) .
- In 2010, children were food insecure at
times during the year in 9.8 percent of households with children
(3.9 million households.) In one percent of households with
children,one or more of the children experienced the most severe
food-insecure condition measured by USDA, very low food
security, in which meals were irregular and food intake was
below levels considered adequate by caregivers (Coleman-Jensen
2011, p. vi).
- The median [a type of average]
food-secure household spent 27 percent more on food than the
median food-insecure household of the same size and household
composition (Coleman-Jensen 2011, p. vi)..
- Background: The United States changed
the name of its definitions in 2006 that eliminated references
to hunger, keeping various categories of food insecurity. This
did not represent a change in what was measured. Very low food
insecurity (described as food insecurity with hunger prior to
2006) means that, at times during the year, the food intake of
household members was reduced and their normal eating patterns
were disrupted because the household lacked money and other
resources for food. This means that people were hungry ( in the
sense of "the uneasy or painful sensation caused by want of
food" [Oxford English Dictionary 1971] for days each year (Nord
2009 p. iii-iv.).
Poverty in the United States
The official poverty measure is published by
the United States Census Bureau and shows that:
- In 2010, 46.9 million people were in
poverty, up from 37.3 million in 2007 -- the fourth consecutive
annual increase in the number of people in poverty . This is
the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty rates have
been published (DeNavas-Walt
2011, p. 14).
- The 2010 poverty rate was 15.1 percent,
up from 12.5 percent in 1997. This is the highest poverty rate
since 1993, but 7.3 percentage points lower than the poverty
rate in 1959, the first year for poverty estimates. (DeNavas-Walt
2011, p. 14).
- The 2010 poverty rate for Hispanics was
26.6 percent, for Blacks 27.4 percent.
- In 2010, the poverty rate increased for
children under age 18 from 20.7 percent to 22.0 percent. (DeNavas-Walt
2010 p. 14).
- 20.5 million Americans live in extreme
poverty. This means their family’s cash income is less than half
of the poverty line, or about $10,000 a year for a family of
four (DeNavas-Walt
2011, p. 19).
- 49.9 million people or 16.3 percent of
the American people, do not have medical insurance (DeNavas-Walt
2011, p. 23).
In 2011 the Census Bureau published a
supplemental poverty measure for the first time (US Census Bureau
2011b). This new measure addresses seven concerns that have
been raised about the official poverty measure, including the fact
that the offical poverty measure does not reflect the effects of key
government policies that alter the disposable income of families and
thus their poverty status, such as the SNAP/food stamp program.
(For a good brief discussion of these issues see 2011b, p.1-3.)
Taking these adjustments into account, the supplemental poverty
measure showed a 3 million increase in the number of poor people in
2010, compared to the official poverty rate. Who is poor
shows some striking changes. The percentage of children in poverty
is 27.7 percent of the total population in poverty with the
supplemental measure and 36.1 with the official measure; while
people over 65 are 12.7 percent of the total population in poverty
in the supplemental measure and 7.6 percent in the official measure
(2011b, p.3-8). The supplemental poverty measure does measure
poverty more accurately, and it is gratifiying to see that programs
to reduce poverty and hunger among children have had an impact.