How to help:

• donate to a local food bank or participate in a food drive
• organize a food drive
• volunteer at a food bank
• let others know what hunger is
• educate yourself more on hunger

Stopping hunger is a goal for Americans. Please think of ways to help those in your local communites. Remember: someday, it could be you.

Is it really our problem?

People in America tend to think of hunger as mass starvation in foriegn countries. It is a problem right here, in the US. Many citizens in the United States seek hunger relief every day. That is why donating food and learning about hunger is so important to everyone. Also, even if you are not affected by hunger, someone you know may be. It really does affect everyone.

The Hunger Hotline

National Hunger Hotline: 1-866-3-HUNGRY

The National Hunger Hotline provides crucial assistance to Americans across the country in need of food assistance. The Hotline connects individuals in need to emergency food in their community, government assistance programs, and various social services. In addition to assisting individuals in need, the Hotline also fields hundreds of calls from organizations, donors, and volunteers looking for information on emergency food distribution, gleaning, nutrition, funding sources, and other related topics. The majority of the Hotline calls, however, are from individuals in need of assistance. Walking the middle ground between referral service and crisis counseling, the Hotline makes every effort to provide its callers with whatever it is they may need, be it the phone number to a food stamp office, a listing of local food pantries, or simply a compassionate ear. The Hotline is operated Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm and Saturdays 10 am to 2 pm E.S.T.

What is Food Security?

Food security: Strong, sustainable, local and regional food systems that ensure access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food for all people at all times.

Related Science Fair Statistics

Also, people that have a lower income tend to live on more heavily populated areas. As shown in a science project, fast food chains go where the people go. If people have more options of non healthy resturants, they will lack the healthy food that they need.

Hunger Statistics in US

36.2 million people lived in households considered to be food insecure.
Of these 36.2 million, 23.8 million are adults (10.6 percent of all adults) and 12.4 million are children (16.9 percent of all children).

The number of people in the worst-off households increased to 11.9 from 10.8 in 2005. This increase in the number of people in the worst-off category is consistent with other studies and the Census Bureau poverty data, which show worsening conditions for the poorest Americans.

Black (22.2 percent) and Hispanic (20.1 percent) households experienced food insecurity at far higher rates than the national average.

The ten states with the highest food insecurity rates in 2007 were Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Maine, South Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

4.0 percent of U.S. households experience hunger. Some people in these households frequently skip meals or eat too little, sometimes going without food for a whole day. 11.1 million people, including 430 thousand children, live in these homes.

6.9 percent of U.S. households are at risk of hunger. Members of these households have lower quality diets or must resort to seeking emergency food because they cannot always afford the food they need. 24.4 million people, including 12.2 million children, live in these homes.

Research shows that preschool and school-aged children who experience severe hunger have higher levels of chronic illness, anxiety and depression, and behavior problems than children with no hunger.

Definition of Hunger

The dictionary definition of hunger is: a compelling need or desire for food or shortage of food; famine.