The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service released its annual study measuring food security in the United States, Household Food Security in the United States, 2008.
The alarming results show that 1 in 6 Americans is food insecure. Even more shocking is that 1 in 4 children lives in a food-insecure household. Given the current state of the economy, it is going to take a while for 
these numbers to decrease.
Key highlights from the study:
- In 2008, 49.1 million (16.4%) Americans lived in food insecure households compared to 36.2 million (12.2%) in 2007.
- In 2008, 17.2 million (14.6%) American households are food insecure compared to 13 million (11.1%) in 2007.
- In 2008, 8.3 million (21%) households with children are living in food insecure households compared to 6.2 million (15.8%) in 2007.
- In 2008, 16.7 million (22.5%) children are living in food insecure households compared to 12.4 million (16.9%) in 2007.
- In 2008, 2.3 million (8.1%) households with seniors were living in food insecure households compared to 1.8 million (6.5%) in 2007.
- The number of individuals who are food insecure increased 36% over 2007 and the number of children increased 35% over 2007.
> The full report can be accessed on the USDA web site.
> Read our press release about the report
This report is based on data from the December 2008 food security survey which provides the most recent statistics on the food security of U.S. households, how much households spent on food, and the extent to which food insecure households participated in federal and community food assistance programs.