Each year, Feeding America releases a national report known as Map the Meal Gap that outlines updated estimates of food insecurity by select income levels, ages, and races/ethnicities for all U.S. states and counties. Additionally, the report updates national and local estimates of the average meal cost. Due to the time it takes to collect accurate data, the newest Map the Meal Gap report reflects the state of food insecurity as of 2023.
Newly released Map the Meal Gap data reaffirms what we already knew; hunger is a widespread, systemic issue that affects every community in our state. The report finds that 100% of counties are home to people facing hunger, and 86% of the counties with the highest food insecurity rates are in the South. These statistics demonstrate the harsh reality of hunger throughout our region and our state.
Across Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s seven-county service area, the total number of people facing food insecurity rose approximately 10% from 2022 to 2023, with over 260,000 people experiencing challenges associated with hunger. This number is especially relevant for children. In the largely urban Orange County, 9% of children are faced with food insecurity. When you zoom out on the largely rural Edgecombe County, that statistic rises to 36.2%, a reminder of the vast geographic and economic disparities even amongst our service area.
Map the Meal Gap finds that 2 out of 5 people facing hunger are unlikely to qualify for SNAP benefits. For example, the newest report found that 12% of Wake County residents are facing food insecurity, and of those people, 54% fall above the SNAP threshold. That means there are neighbors in our community who cannot consistently afford to access fresh meals while still making too much to qualify for SNAP benefits (i.e. food stamps), leaving very limited options for families to fill those gaps.
Food insecurity is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food. It occurs when at least one person in the home lacks access to enough food for an active, healthy life because of limited money or other resources. It is often linked to one or multiple personal and systemic factors that lead to food insecurity, such as household income, expenses, access to affordable health care, barriers to opportunity, and the current social and physical climate.
This is why our fight against hunger is so important. Every day, neighbors in our community are faced with tough decisions, such as whether to put food on the table or pay for their utility bills. With food costs on the rise, more neighbors who would be unable to qualify for food assistance may be faced with food insecurity. By distributing food and resources through our mobile markets and food pantry locations, we can ensure that our neighbors have access to fresh, healthy food right in their communities. To learn more about the newly released Map the Meal Gap report, visit feedingamerica.org/map.