Too many Americans are struggling to feed themselves and their families. Poverty and unemployment are common factors contributing to food insecurity. The most recent statistics, from 2014, showed that 42.2 million Americans lived in food insecure households, including 29.1 million adults and 13.1 million children.
The effects of hunger are significant, especially on children. A 2008 study found that “food insecurity, even at the least severe household levels, has emerged as a highly prevalent risk to the growth, health, cognitive, and behavioral potential of America's poor and near-poor children.” The Children's Sentinel Nutrition Assessment Program found that, after adjusting for confounders, food-insecure children had 90 percent greater odds of having “fair/poor” health (versus “excellent/good”), and 31 percent greater odds of having been hospitalized since birth, than similar children in food-secure households.
To address hunger in America, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) should use data from national surveys such as the Current Population Survey to identify locations with the greatest needs. As a first step, the USDA should combine its own data with data from the Food and Drug Administration and Census Bureau to create a National Hunger Heat Map—a map to compare areas of food insecurity with food distribution efforts. The Map could draw on the Feeding America Map, which provides insights on how food insecurity impacts each county in the United States. The National Hunger Heat Map will provide additional detail on food insecurity, perhaps at the census tract level, and include food distribution points, such as food banks and food retailers.
As a second step, USDA should enable food banks and other food distributors to report food shortages or excess supply on a daily basis. By putting this data together with the patterns shown on the National Hunger Heat Map, USDA could run a national data-driven effort to move food quickly from areas of oversupply to areas of need. The map would also be a resource for the hungry, who could log in to see locations with excess food.
This national effort would build on a number of local initiatives that have already proven effective. In Washington, DC, for example, the Capital Area Food Bank Hunger Heat Map has led to programs that provide healthy food in local elementary schools, deliver a mobile nutrition program to three hundred children a week in Virginia, and support other neighborhood initiatives in Maryland.
Additionally, Waste Not Orange County is a successful initiative in Southern California. It has distributed over 300 tons of surplus food by connecting grocers and restaurants to food recovery agencies. With the data gathered from their food insecurity screen tool, the county has created a map of over 230 regularly distributing food facilities to make it easier to identify pantries that donate or accept food. Other county resources include food banks and 2-1-1 Orange County. Their Community Toolkit includes helpful information for health practitioners screening patients for food insecurity and for food facilities with concerns about the legality of donating food. In just one year, the program helped Orange Country reduce the portion of the population facing food insecurity from 12.9 percent to 10.9 percent, helping thousands of residents meet the nutrition needs of their families.