By Kristin Roberts, Nutrition Associate, D.C. Hunger Solutions
A new report from the Food Research and Action Center shares some shocking new statistics: one in five households in the District of Columbia aren’t able to afford the food they need. The number is even worse when you look at children: the rate for households with children is 40.6 percent.
That’s right. Two in five D.C. households with children say they cannot afford enough food! These findings vividly underscore that more must be done, and quickly, to help struggling families.
These statistics come from Food Hardship: A Closer Look at Hunger (PDF here). This new report analyzes survey data that were collected by Gallup and provided to FRAC. It contains new 2008 and 2009 data on food hardship – the inability to afford enough food – for the District of Columbia and the Washington metro area.
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 the large sample size Gallup provides a closer, more localized and more recent look at food hardship. Official government data on food insecurity has a nearly one-year time lag and does not go below the state level.
What does food hardship look like in the D.C. area? 12.2 percent of households in the Washington region reported food hardship in 2008-2009. But, once again, the numbers are also dramatically higher for households with children – 17.7 percent of households with children say that they had difficulty affording enough food compared to just 8.7 percent of households without children.
President Obama has set a goal to end childhood hunger by 2015. As we can see with these new data, the struggle with hunger is a serious problem here in Washington, D.C. for adults – and especially for children. 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.
Two great ways to get started: The city can improve access to school meals by getting more schools to serve breakfast in the classroom, and make sure that the new Afterschool Meal Program is implemented quickly.
Check out D.C. Hunger Solutions’ website for more strategies to end childhood hunger.