Food Hardship Nation-wide + Arizona

“Food hardship is a serious national problem that requires a serious national response,” said Weill. “It is crucial that the nation take actions that will dramatically decrease food hardship numbers. The cost of not doing so — in terms of damage to health, education, early childhood development, and productivity — is just too high. The moral cost of not doing so is even higher. . .
“It’s good to see progress, but the food hardship rate is still unacceptable,” said Jim Weill, president of FRAC.

“The data in this report represent an economic and political failure that is leaving tens of millions of Americans struggling with hunger, and this struggle is happening in every community in America. We must redouble our efforts to ensure no American is left behind.”

Despite Arizona officially recovering from the recession this year, millions of Americans live in households that struggle to put food on the table, according to a report, How Hungry is America?, released by the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC).

Key Findings:

• Nationally, one in six households reported they struggled to afford to buy food.
• Rates of food hardship in 2015 varied from a low of 8.4 percent in North Dakota to a high of 23 percent in Mississippi.
• 31 states had at least one in seven respondent households (14.3 percent or more) answer that they did not have enough money to buy food at some point in the past 12 months.
• The states with the worst food hardship rates are: Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Of the 16 states with the worst food hardship rates, eight were in the Southeast.
• Of the 109 large MSAs surveyed, 93 had at least one in eight (12.5 percent or more) households affirmatively answer that they struggle to afford food.
• Arizona is tied with Missouri at No. 18 on the list for Worst States in the Nation for Food Hardships

“Progress is great, but families going hungry is still unacceptable,” said Cynthia Zwick, executive director of the Arizona Community Action Association (ACAA).  “Food hardship remains a very serious problem in Arizona and across the country that needs to be addressed quickly, efficiently and effectively on a collaborative basis.”. 
Quote from AZ Big Media