Food Hardship in the United Kingdom and the United States

United Kingdom: Parents struggling to feed their children

One in five parents in the UK are struggling to feed their children, new research has found.

The research found that more than 20% of parents had skipped meals or relied on friends or family for food in the last 12 months.

The study was conducted by Tesco, Christian foodbank charity the Trussell Trust, and food redistribution charity FareShare.

It coincides with the biggest ever food collection in the UK taking place today and tomorrow, organised jointly by the charities and supermarket chain. Read more

Number of Kentuckians struggling to put food on the table is ‘shockingly high,’ report shows

To say a lot of people are hungry in Kentucky may be an understatement and a bit of a surprise, but a recent report on hunger shows one of five people here, over 20 percent, report not having enough money to buy food within the last 12 months.

The “Food Hardship in America 2012” report was released by the Food Research and Action Center. It notes that the news isn’t much better nationally, with just over 18 percent of Americans suffering from food hardships.

“This report provides evidence of both the lingering effects of the recession and the existence of holes in the federal safety net,” said Kentucky Association of Food Banks Executive Director Tamara Sandberg. “Food banks can attest to the continued need for emergency food assistance among our struggling neighbors. The shockingly high rate of households in Kentucky that struggle to put food on the table should spur all of us to join the fight to end hunger.” Read more

Report: Food Hardship in America 2012

2012 was the fifth year during which the Gallup organization, as part of the Gallup- Healthways Well-Being Index, asked hundreds of thousands of households the food hardship question “Have there been times in the past twelve months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?” In 2012, 18.2 percent of households answered “Yes” to this question.

That continuingly high rate of food hardship in 2012 is evidence of both the lingering effects of the terrible recession (e.g., high unemployment and underemployment; stagnant and falling wages), and the failure of Congress to respond robustly with initiatives to boost jobs, wages and public income and nutrition support programs. These economic and political shortfalls continue to take a harsh toll on the nation’s food security. Read more