11 Facts About Food Banks

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1. The term “food insecurity” means that a person doesn't know where or when they’ll find their next meal. In 2013, 49.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 33.3 million adults and 15.8 million children.^["Hunger Statistics, Hunger Facts & Poverty Facts | Feeding America." Feeding America. http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/hunger-and-poverty-statistics.aspx (accessed July 15, 2014).]
2. In 2013, 62% of food-insecure households participated in at least 1 out of the 3 major Federal food assistance programs.^["Hunger Statistics, Hunger Facts & Poverty Facts | Feeding America." Feeding America. http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/hunger-and-poverty-statistics.aspx (accessed July 15, 2014).]
3. 100% of food banks responding to a Feeding America survey reported an increase in demand for emergency food assistance in 2008. Demand for emergency food assistance increased at a rate ranging from 28.6% to 37.7%. Run a food drive outside your supermarket to keep your local food bank supplied. Sign up for Supermarket Stakeout.^["Feeding America's Hungry: The Facts." United We Serve. http://www.serve.gov/?q=site-page/toolkits/food-bank/index#_ftnref1 (accessed July 16, 2014).]
4. In 2013, households that had higher rates of food insecurity than the national average included households with children (20%), especially households with children headed by single women (34%) or single men (23%).^["Hunger Statistics, Hunger Facts & Poverty Facts | Feeding America." Feeding America. http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/hunger-and-poverty-statistics.aspx (accessed July 15, 2014).]
5. Across the Feeding America network of over 63,000 agencies, 66% of pantries, 41% of kitchen programs, and 11% of shelter programs have no paid staff, relying entirely on volunteers.^[United We Serve. "Feeding America's Hungry: The Facts." Accessed March 3, 2015. .]
6. Hunger in America exists for over 50 million people. That is 1 in 6 of the U.S. population – including more than 1 in 5 children.^["Hunger Statistics, Hunger Facts & Poverty Facts | Feeding America." Feeding America. http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/hunger-and-poverty-statistics.aspx (accessed July 15, 2014).]
7. According to Map the Meal Gap, in 2012, the top 5 states with the highest rate of food insecure children under 18 are New Mexico, the District of Columbia, Arizona, Oregon, and Georgia.^[Feed America. "Child Hunger Fact Sheets." Accessed March 3, 2015. .]
8. Food bank network members of Feeding America supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors.^[Feeding South Dakota. Feeding America Food Bank Network. Accessed March 3, 2015.]
9. 34% of all households served by Feeding America have had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care.^[Feeding America & Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County. "Hunger in America: 2014". Feeding America. Accessed March 3, 2015.]
10. 72% of food banks do not feel as though they are able to adequately meet the needs of their communities without adjusting the amount of food distributed.^["Supporting a Local Food Bank." United We Serve. http://www.serve.gov/sites/default/files/food-bank.pdf (accessed March 3, 2015).]
11. There are roughly 15,083 food pantries in America as of 2015.^["Find Food Pantries." Food Pantries. http://www.foodpantries.org/ (accessed March 3, 2015).]