Hunger—No Games

September 1, 2012, Department, by Danielle Taylor

 

The correlation between obesity, hunger, and poverty isn't as clear cut as it may seem.48.8 million: The number of Americans living in food-insecure households (32.6 million adults, 16.2 million children—14.5 percent of households) in 2010 (Coleman-Jensen, Nord, Andrews, and Carlson).

6.2 million: The number of Americans in poverty in 2010 (DeNavas-Walt, Procter, and Lee).

31 million: The number of children who received free or reduced-price lunch each school day in 2010 through the National School Lunch Program (National School Lunch Program).

2.3 million: The number of children who received meals during the summer of 2009 through the Summer Food Service Program (USDA Economic Research Service).

32.3: The percentage of children living in the District of Columbia without consistent access to food (Gundersen, Waxman, Engelhard, and Brown).

3,900: The amount of food, in calories, the U.S. food system produces for each American per day (USDA).

84: The percentage of the total 12,000 park and recreation agencies in the United States that provide meals to low-income children (NRPA).

560 million: The number of meals park and recreation agencies serve to children through summer and after-school programs each year (NRPA).

20: The percentage of U.S. children served by Feeding America, the nation’s largest network of food banks (ConAgra Foods Foundation).

74: The percentage of Feeding America food pantries that report an increase in clients since 2006 (Cohen, Mabli, Potter, and Zhao).

1 million: The number of meals provided each day to seniors by Meals on Wheels (Meals on Wheels Association of America).

$29,055: The income threshold for a family of four to make children eligible for free lunch (NSLP).

$10.8 billion: The cost of the National School Lunch Program in FY 2010 (NSLP).

23: The percentage of increased obesity rates for low-income children aged 10 to 17 years old between 2003 and 2007, compared to 10 percent for all U.S. children (Singh, Siahpush, and Kogan).

13.5 million: The number of Americans who live in a food desert, defined as a low-income census tract where either a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store (USDA).

2.3 million: The number of U.S. households located more than a mile from the closest grocery store without access to a car (USDA).

1,755: The number of farmers’ markets nationwide in 1994.

7,864: The number of farmers’ markets nationwide in 2012 (USDA Agricultural Marketing Service).

25,000: The estimated number of community gardens in the United States (American Community Gardening Association).