The Federal government has defined what "being hungry" means. They’ve come up with a yardstick called Food Insecurity.
Food insecurity is defined as the food intake of household members is reduced and their normal eating patterns are disrupted because the household lacks money and other resources for food.
The lack of food prevents an active healthy life for household members.
Food insecurity can have a wide impact. Some of the most common, effects of food insecurity include:
serious health complications, especially when people facing hunger are forced to choose between spending money on food and medicine or medical care
damage to a child’s ability to learn and grow
difficult decisions for seniors to choosing between paying for food and critical healthcare.
Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger relief organization, says coronavirus-related economic crises could push the number of food insecure Americans to 54 million. That's 17 million more Americans than who were food insecure before the pandemic.
In Contra Costa County, about 96,040 residents (8.5%) were considered food insecure before the pandemic, according to Feeding America's "Map the Meal Gap" interactive study.
With the high cost of living, the pandemic could push the rate of food insecurity in Contra Costa County to 13.4%. This translates to more than 150,000 residents at risk of going hungry.
Brothers of International Faith is here to do our part to help eliminate hunger in West Contra Costa County.
We give special thanks to White Pony Express, Grocery Outlet of San Pablo, and Daily Bread of Berkeley for their help and support.
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