Davenport, Iowa – May 21, 2018 – River Bend Foodbank announced the release of Map the Meal Gap 2018, the latest report by Feeding America® on food insecurity and the cost of food at both the county and congressional district level. Map the Meal Gap 2018 reveals that food insecurity exists in every county in River Bend Foodbank’s service area. Additionally, 40% of residents of eastern Iowa and western Illinois who are food insecure are likely ineligible for federal nutrition assistance under current program requirements.
Overall food insecurity in eastern Iowa and western Illinois ranges from a low of 9% of the population in Muscatine and Putnam Counties up to 15.5% in McDonough County. And food insecurity for children reaches as high as 20.2% in Stark County with a low of 15.2% in Jo Daviess County.
“We are closer to ending hunger in eastern Iowa and western Illinois than ever before,” said Michael Miller, President & CEO of River Bend Foodbank. “As more and more people are receiving temporary food assistance, some of them have been able to get back on their feet, lowering the total need. But food insecurity is still higher than before the Great Recession, so we have to keep at this until everyone is fed.”
River Bend Foodbank is one of 200 food banks in the Feeding America network that collectively provides food assistance to 46 million Americans struggling with hunger. In 2017, River Bend Foodbank provided over 13.4 million meals throughout 23 counties in eastern Iowa and western Illinois.
“The Feeding America nationwide network of food banks works hard to deliver more than 4 billion meals annually to people facing hunger,” said Matt Knott, president of Feeding America.
Map the Meal Gap 2018 uses data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and food price data and analysis provided by Nielsen, a global provider of information and insights. The study is supported by The Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Conagra Brands Foundation and Nielsen.
Key local findings:
In the last 12 months, River Bend Foodbank and its Partner Agencies distributed 13,466,746 meals. This is an increase of 19% from last year and 80% from when we first set our goal three years ago to close the meal gap by 2025.
The Meal Gap in River Bend Foodbank’s 23 county service area is 20,664,500. That is down 6.5% from last year or 1.4 million meals.
We are closer to ending hunger than ever before. The meal gap has decreased and we are providing more meals to hungry people. The unmet need is now 7.3 million meals, less than half of what it was 3 years ago.
The study’s findings underscore the depth of need that remains in communities in eastern Iowa and western Illinois and across the U.S., despite national measures from the USDA that indicate overall improvement. Food insecurity is a measure defined by the USDA as lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members.
Dr. Craig Gundersen, Professor of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois, Executive Director of the National Soybean Research Laboratory and a member of Feeding America’s Technical Advisory Group is the lead researcher of Map the Meal Gap 2018.
This is the eighth consecutive year that Feeding America has conducted the Map the Meal Gap study.
The Map the Meal Gap 2018 interactive map allows policymakers, state agencies, corporate partners, food banks and individual advocates to develop integrated strategies to fight hunger on a community level.
A summary of the findings, an interactive map of the United States, and the full report are available at map.feedingamerica.org.
Join the conversation about Map the Meal Gap 2018 on Twitter using #MealGap.
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