Food Insecurity and Hunger Rates
Too High in the District

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 31, 2003 – A new U.S. Department of Agriculture analysis based on Census Bureau surveys shows that food insecurity and hunger are still far too high in the District of Columbia.

The report provides food insecurity and hunger rates for the states based on three-year averages. (The survey sample size for each state is too small to give accurate state food insecurity numbers for each individual year, so USDA calculates food insecurity numbers for each state using three-year averages.) This three-year average shows that 9.3 percent of households in the District of Columbia experienced food insecurity in the 2000-2002 period.

While the District rate is below the national average, (food insecurity generally is higher in the South, Southwest, West and Mountain states), the District lags behind its neighbours. Maryland (8.2%), Virginia ( 7.3%) and Delaware (6.8%) have lower rates. The Districts rate is comparable to West Virginia ( 9.4%).

What the numbers reflect is the growing inequality of income and high poverty rates. If it were not for the federal nutrition programs, the food insecurity numbers would be higher. The continuing high rates of food insecurity in the District also point to the still inadequate reach of key supports like food stamps and child nutrition programs.

“ A key D.C. nutrition program official recently said that there are no hungry children in the District. This study again proves what everyone close to the situation knows - that a significant segment of D.C. residents are living with hunger or on the edge of hunger, unnecessarily,” stated Kimberly Perry, Director of D.C. Hunger Solutions, a local anti-hunger advocacy organization. “Hats off to the Mayor for understanding this and creating last week a Blue Ribbon Task Force that will provide oversight of the child nutrition programs. We hope this new data will encourage him to seek solutions for food insecurity and hunger for all residents of the City.”

Since 1995, the United States Department of Agriculture, using data from surveys conducted annually by the Census Bureau, has released estimates of the number of households that are food insecure - broken into food insecure with hunger and food insecure without hunger. Food insecure households are those that are not able, for financial reasons, to access a sufficient diet at all times in the past 12 months. Households labeled hungry are those where one or more household members experienced hunger due to lack of financial resources at some time in the past 12 months. The Census/USDA definitions are rigorous and assure that only those experiencing significant hunger or food insecurity without hunger are so classified.

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D.C. Hunger Solutions, a project of the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), is dedicated to fighting hunger and improving the nutrition, health and well-being of District residents.

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