Hunger and food insecurity in the United States

Nearly 14 million people In the United States lived with food insecurity in 2020.

In the wealthiest country in the world, a full 10.5 percent of households – approximately 38 million people – in America were unsure of where their next meal came from at some point in 2020, because they lacked the money or resources. Many of these people were forced to alter their diets, reduce their food intake, or seek assistance from local governments and charities to survive.

Even worse, American households with children were statistically more likely to not have enough food to eat, according to the USDA:

  • An estimated 14.8 percent of households with children suffered from some level of food insecurity in 2020.
  • Food-insecure households were split just about evenly between those in which only adults were food-insecure and those in which both adults and children were hungry. There were approximately 2.9 million households in the latter category, adding up to about 6.1 million children, in 2020.
  • Rates of food insecurity were even higher among households with children under the age of 6 (15.3 percent), as well as those households headed by a single woman (27.7 percent) or single man (16.3 percent).
  • And unsurprisingly, poverty was a leading indicator of households with children dealing with food insecurity: almost one in three households with an income level 185 percent below the poverty line was food insecure in 2020.
  • After a long period of decline, hunger in the US has been increasing in recent years, and the COVID-19 pandemic made the situation worse, as millions lost their jobs and income, resulting in more people relying on government programs and local organizations

It goes without saying that food is an important part of a healthy life and a human right. When families can’t afford the proper amount of nutritious food, they suffer physically and emotionally.

There simply is no reason why anyone in the United States should ever go hungry. But until poverty and hunger are solved for good, there are neighbors who need our help right now.

Help feed people in need with Embrace Relief

That’s where the Embrace Relief Foundation comes in. While we provide food and aid to needy people all around the world, Embrace Relief has made it part of our mission to help those closest to us. During our International Hunger Relief Campaign: Ramadan 2021, Embrace Relief delivered food to 900 families in New Jersey, in addition to the food packages we sent to more than 30,000 people across 12 countries, including more than 1,300 in Greece, more than 1,100 in Yemen, and hundreds more families in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

For our International Hunger Relief Campaign 2022, we want to do so much more, and your support can make that possible. Donating any amount of money will make a difference – the amounts below represent the cost of one food package that will feed a family for one week:

So please, donate today. Every contribution you make helps one more family go to bed on a full stomach, and brings us one small step closer to ending world hunger.

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