Hunger is the uneasy or painful sensation caused by lack of food. Lack of food due to poverty or constrained resources can lead to malnutrition over time.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture publication, Household Food Security in the United States, 85.5% of American households had adequate food throughout the entire year in 2010, meaning they had access, at all times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. The rest of the households, 14.5%, were food insecure at least some time during the year.
As reported in USDA Food Security in the United States: Conditions and Trends, 36.2 million people lived in food-insecure households in 2007. Of these individuals, 8.2 million adults and 3.7 million children lived in households where someone experienced hunger during the year.
Physical and mental changes regarding inadequate food intakes can have harmful effects on learning, development, productivity, physical and psychological health, and family life.
Sources
Household Food Security in the United States, 2010; USDA Food Security in the United States: Conditions and Trends
Related Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Tools
2-1-1 Information & Referral Service
Web site
2-1-1 provides free and confidential information and referral for help with employment, food, housing, health care, and counseling.
2008 Farm Bill
Web site
Provides news and transcripts, fact sheets, and loan rates on the 2008 farm bill.
Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
Web site
Works to improve the health and well-being of Americans by developing and promoting dietary guidance that links scientific research to the nutrition needs of consumers.
Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)
Web site
A source of federal funds for meals and snacks to licensed public and nonprofit child care centers plus family and group child care homes for preschool children. Funds are also provided for meals and snacks served at after-school programs for school-age children, and to adult day care centers serving chronically impaired adults or people over age 60.
Child Nutrition Programs
Web site
Lists state agencies administering the Child Nutrition Programs, guidance, regulations, policy, and reimbursement rates.
Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
Web site
Helps supplement the diets of low-income persons, including elderly people, by providing them with emergency food and nutrition assistance.
Farmers Markets Search
Database
Search by farmers market name, state, city, county, and zip code to find a local farmers market.
Food & Community Program
Web site
Supports local, regional and national collaborative efforts to create healthy places for children. Offers funding and other resources to improve school food systems, increase access to good food and physical activity environments, and to fuel the national healthy eating and active living movement.
Food & Nutrition Information Center
Web site
Provides a directory to resources for consumers, nutrition and health professionals, educators and government personnel. Offers printable educational materials, government reports, research papers and more.
Food and Community
Web site
Access resources that can help improve healthful food access programs for vulnerable children.
Food Assistance and Nutrition Programs
Web site
Lists various food and nutrition programs, publications, and maps.
Food Desert Locator
Research instrument
Offers an interactive mapping tool to view census tract-level statistics on population groups with low access to healthy food, plus related information on food deserts (low-income neighborhoods with high concentrations of people who are far from a grocery store).
Food Environment Atlas
Research instrument
A web-based mapping tool which enables researchers, policy makers, and the public to find information on a range of factors that affect access to healthy, affordable food, and will allow users to map the data by county.
Food Security
Web site
Provides resources for food security measurement, biosecurity challenges, and food security research.
Guide to Assessing Food Stamp Application Forms
Web site
Designed to help state personnel analyze and improve their form’s organization, wording, and directions. Also helps to ensure their forms comply with food stamp regulations.
Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Compass
Web site
Interactive web-based document and map highlighting USDA support for local and regional food projects and successful producer, business and community case studies.
Local Community Action Agency Directory
Web site
A directory of local community action agencies (CAAs) developed by VirtualCAP.org that provides contact information by either state or agency name.
MyPlate (Previously MyPyramid)
Web site
Helps in choosing proper foods and amounts by providing an estimate of what and how much is needed to eat based on age, gender, and activity level.
National Association for State Community Services Programs: State Contacts
Web site
Provides contacts for state community services programs funded through the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and the U.S. Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program (DOE/WAP). Implements services including weatherization, energy assistance, child care, nutrition, employment, state energy programs, job training, and housing in urban, suburban and rural communities.
Online Services for Key Low-Income Benefit Programs
Web site
Offers information on food stamps, Medicaid, CHIP, TANF and child care.
Rural Grocery Initiative
Web site
Part of the Kansas State University. Identifies and develops models to sustain retail sources of food for rural Kansas citizens. Seeks information from rural grocery store customers and potential customers about grocery shopping expectations, how well local stores meet customers' needs, locally grown food preferences, and grocery shopping habits.
Rural, Tribal and Small Town Sustainability
Web site
Part of HUD's Sustainable Communities Resource Center, this topic area describes strategies that communities are developing to improve their environmental, economic, and social sustainability. Offers publications and reports, tools and toolkits, plus sample programs and initiatives for rural, tribal and small town sustainability.
School Breakfast Program (SBP)
Web site
Provides cash assistance to States to operate nonprofit breakfast programs in schools and residential childcare institutions.
SNAP Informational Materials in Other Languages
Web site
Offers links to materials in languages other than English. Materials are designed for partners, advocates, and the public to distribute to consumers who may be eligible to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the Food Stamp Program.
SNAP Retailer Locator
Database
Online search tool designed to help recipients find SNAP-authorized stores near their home or workplace.
Spanish version:
http://www.snapretailerlocator.com/spanish/index.html
Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity
Web site
A foundation-led, non-partisan initiative aimed at ensuring that political leaders take significant actions to reduce poverty and increase opportunity in the United States. Includes a page dedicated to rural poverty issues.
State of the States
Web site
State profiles of these Federal Food Programs: Demographics, Poverty and Food Insecurity; Federal Nutrition Programs; and State Economic Security Policies.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Web site
Helps low-income people buy food, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, they need for good health. Works with State and local agencies, advocates, employers, community and faith-based organizations, and others to reach eligible low-income people who are not currently participating in SNAP and share information about its nutritional benefits.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Pre-Screening Eligibility Tool
Web site
Determines potential eligibility to receive Food Stamp benefits based on amounts of earnings, rent or mortgage, utility bills, child support, day care expenses, medical bills (60 or older, or disabled), child support payments or SSI, social security or VA payments.
Waste-Free Lunches
Web site
A collection of success stories that help to reduce lunchtime waste. Programs were submitted by teachers, administrators, parents, and various environmental organizations.
WHY (World Hunger Year)
Web site
Offers job training, education and after school programs; access to housing and healthcare; microcredit and entrepreneurial opportunities; teaches people to grow their own food; and assists small farmers with the intent of reducing hunger and poverty. Offers a national hunger hotline for Americans in need of food assistance: 1-866-3-HUNGRY (1-866-348-6479).
Funding
Farm to School Grant Program
Grants to establish a Farm to School program in order to assist eligible entities, through grants and technical assistance, in implementing farm to school programs that improve access to local foods in eligible schools.
Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP)
Grants to increase domestic consumption of agricultural commodities by expanding direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities.
Healthy Eating Research: Building Evidence to Prevent Childhood Obesity (Round 7)
The program supports research on environmental and policy strategies to promote healthy eating among children to prevent childhood obesity, especially among low-income and racial/ethnic populations at highest risk for obesity.
Jewel-Osco In Your Community
Funding to nonprofit and school programs for hunger relief, health, and nutrition.
Kroger Company Foundation
Grants are made to feed the hungry, support breast cancer initiatives, provide disaster relief, and assist local grassroots organizations.
National School Lunch/After School Snack Program
Funding to provide nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day.
Presbyterian Hunger Program
The Presbyterian Hunger Program provides grants in five areas to combat hunger in the United States.
School Breakfast Program (SBP)
Provides cash assistance to States to operate nonprofit breakfast programs in schools and residential childcare institutions.
Special Milk Program
A program that provides milk to children in schools, child care institutions and eligible camps that do not participate in other Federal child nutrition meal service programs.
Summer Food Service Program
Funding to provide free, nutritious meals and snacks to help children in low-income areas get the nutrition they need during the summer months.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Participation Grants
Grant funding may be used to support projects that develop and implement simple food stamp application and eligibility determination systems, or measures to improve access to food stamp benefits.
Inactive Funding
Inactive Funding Opportunities -
Lists additional funding programs for this topic that are not currently accepting applications. Programs that are inactive may be offered again in the future.
Maps & Map Collections
No Car and No Supermarket Store Within a Mile
Interactive
Geographic coverage: United States
Colors each county in America by the percentage of households in food deserts, according to the USDA's definition. Data is not available for Alaska and Hawaii.
Date: 2009
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Data System: Maps
Interactive
Geographic coverage: United States
Interactive, web-based mapping utility that illustrates program participation and benefit levels down to the county level. Shows per capita participation, per capita benefits, changes from year to year, and more. The map's tools allow you to call up tabular data for the county, State, or Nation.
Date: 2010
Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
2011 Report to the Secretary: Rural Health and Human Services Issues
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Includes chapters focused on rural childhood obesity, place-based initiatives for rural early childhood development, and rural implications of accountable care organizations and payment bundling. Includes recommendations to address these issues. Includes appendices regarding June 2010 and September 2010 site visits.
Date: 03 / 2011
Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food: Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their Consequences
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Describes the issue of limited access to nutritious food in poor and/or rural areas and the measures in place to counteract it. Results stem from a study on the relationship between access to full-service grocery stores and the instance of poor nutrition, obesity, and other diet-related diseases.
Date: 06 / 2009
Access to Healthy Foods in Low-Income Neighborhoods: Opportunities for Public Policy
Sponsoring organization: Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity
Discusses the prevalence of low-income people, minorities, and rural residents suffering the highest rates of preventable, diet-related diseases that are linked to insufficient consumption of healthful foods.
Date: 2008
Alleviating Poverty in the United States: The Critical Role of SNAP Benefits (Full Report)
Author(s): Laura Tiehen, Dean Jolliffe, Craig Gundersen
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Reports on a study that shows how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) improves the welfare of low-income households. Compares poverty data and SNAP benefits in metropolitan areas versus nonmetropolitan areas.
Date: 04 / 2012
Alleviating Poverty in the United States: The Critical Role of SNAP Benefits (Report Summary)
Author(s): Laura Tiehen, Dean Jolliffe, Craig Gundersen
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Summarizes results of a study that shows how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) improves the welfare of low-income households. Compares poverty data and SNAP benefits in metropolitan areas versus nonmetropolitan areas.
Date: 04 / 2012
Can Food Stamps Do More to Improve Food Choices? An Economic Perspective—How Can We Tell If We Are Making a Difference? ERS Efforts To Improve Evaluation of Nutrition Outcomes
Author(s): Elizabeth Frazao, Joanne F. Guthrie, David Smallwood
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Discusses ERS efforts to improve the tools for evaluation of nutrition outcomes.
Date: 09 / 2007
Can Low-Income Americans Afford a Healthy Diet?
Author(s): Elise Golan, Hayden Stewart, Fred Kuchler, Diansheng Dong
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Discusses how low-income households tend to consume less nutritious diets than other households, and they do not meet Federal recommendations for consumption of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products.
Journal citation: Amber Waves Volume 2008 Issue Nov.
Date: 11 / 2008
Challenges in Serving Rural American Children through the Summer Food Service Program
Author(s): Barbara Wauchope, Nena Stracuzzi
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Reports that lack of transportation and long distances to Summer Food Service Program sites are the largest reported barriers to rural program
implementation and participation.
Date: 2010
Changing Participation in Food Assistance Programs Among Low-Income Children After Welfare Reform
Author(s): Jessica E. Todd, Constance Newman, Michele Ver Ploeg
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Investigates participation in, and benefits received from, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or food assistance programs, before and after the legislation, for children in low-income households.
Date: 02 / 2010
Characteristics of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Households: Fiscal Year 2010
Author(s): Esa Eslami, Kai Filion, Mark Strayer
Sponsoring organization: USDA Food and Nutrition Service
Presents an overview of the Food Stamp Program eligibility requirements and benefit levels. Provides detailed tabulations and rural-urban comparisons of household and participant characteristics for the nation and by State from October 2009 to September 2010.
Date: 09 / 2011
Comparison of Household Food Security in Canada and the United States (Report Summary)
Author(s): Mark Nord, Heather Hopwood
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Examines the extent to which the basic food needs of households in Canada and the United States are met. Compares rates of food insecurity
in economic and demographic subgroups of both populations.
Date: 12 / 2008
Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Updated every five years, this document contains new guidelines regarding good dietary habits, promoting health, and reducing risk for major chronic diseases. Access the full report, executive summary, and related materials.
Date: 06 / 2010
Direct and Intermediated Marketing of Local Foods in the United States
Author(s): Sarah A. Low, Stephen Vogel
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Compares data on local food marketing channels, such as: direct-to-consumer, local grocers and restaurants. Describes how small, medium, and large-sized farmers use these channels in different regions and in rural or urban areas.
Date: 11 / 2011
Federal Child Nutrition Programs are Important to Rural Households
Author(s): Barbara Wauchope, Anne Shattuck
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Specifically looks at participation data of rural households in four federal programs: the National School Lunch Program; the School Breakfast Program; the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program; and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
Date: 2010
Food Assistance Landscape: FY 2011 Annual Report
Author(s): Victor Oliveira
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Uses preliminary data from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to examine trends in food and nutrition assistance programs from October 1, 2010, to September 30, 2011. Also summarizes ERS research reports on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Date: 03 / 2012
Food Insecurity in Households with Children: Prevalence, Severity, and Household Characteristics
Author(s): Mark Nord
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Describes the prevalence and severity of food insecurity in households with children as of 2007, the trends since 1999, and characteristics of households affected by food insecurity.
Date: 09 / 2009
Food Insecurity Up in Recessionary Times
Author(s): Margaret Andrews, Mark Nord
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Discusses the economic downturn in 2008 that brought an increase in the number of Americans who report difficulty meeting their food needs. The number and percentage of U.S. households classified as “food insecure” has reached the highest level recorded since Federal monitoring of food insecurity began in 1995.
Journal citation: Amber Waves Volume 7 Issue 4
Date: 12 / 2009
Food Stamp and School Lunch Programs Alleviate Food Insecurity in Rural America
Author(s): Kristin Smith, Sarah Savage
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Details how the Food Stamp and the National School Lunch Programs are vital parts of the safety net in rural America, helping a large number of children and others combat hunger and food insecurity.
Date: 2007
Food Stamps and Obesity: What We Know and What It Means
Author(s): Michele Ver Ploeg, Katherine Ralston
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Reports that food stamp benefits do not increase obesity for most program participants, but there is a potential link for some subgroups.
Journal citation: Amber Waves Volume 2008 Issue June
Date: 06 / 2008
Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters
Author(s): Sarah Treuhaft, Allison Karpyn
Sponsoring organization: PolicyLink
Summarizes knowledge about food deserts - areas where there is little or no access to healthy and affordable food - and their impact on communities, including low-density rural areas.
Date: 2010
Health Sector Guide to Food System and Agricultural Policy
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Permanente
Highlights a range of policy opportunities that health care leaders can act upon to begin to shift the food system in service of rural health care.
Date: 2009
Healthy Food, Healthy Communities: Promising Strategies to Improve Access to Fresh, Healthy Food and Transform Communities
Author(s): Rebecca Flournoy
Sponsoring organization: PolicyLink
Describes how low-income communities of color and low-income rural areas are most affected
by limited access to healthy food and what can be done to improve this disparity.
Date: 2010
Healthy Food, Healthy Communities: Promising Strategies to Improve Access to Fresh, Healthy Food and Transform Communities
Author(s): Rebecca Flournoy
Sponsoring organization: PolicyLink
Assesses the impact of healthy food access on both rural and urban communities. Reviews ongoing strategies to develop new grocery stores to help existing grocers, farmers markets, corner stores and other local food retailers expand their healthy food choices.
Date: 2011
Household Food Security in the United States, 2010
Author(s): Alisha Coleman-Jensen, Mark Nord, Margaret Andrews, Steven Carlson
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Presents statistics on households’ food security, food expenditures, and use of food and nutrition assistance programs for 2010. Food insecurity is more common in large cities and rural areas than in suburban areas.
Date: 09 / 2011
How Far Would You Drive for Fresh Food? How Some Rural New Hampshire Residents Navigate a Dismal Food Landscape
Author(s): Jennifer J. Esala
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Describes the experiences of eighteen rural New
Hampshire mothers with young children trying, and
often struggling, to secure healthy, affordable, and quality foods.
Date: 2011
Hunger Almanac 2010
Sponsoring organization: Feeding America
Provides national and state-level statistics on hunger and poverty. Includes an overview of federal nutrition programs.
Date: 07 / 2010
Hunger and Obesity: Understanding a Food Insecurity Paradigm: Workshop Summary
Sponsoring organization: Institute of Medicine
Presents the results from a workshop, held November 16-18-2010, which explored the relationship between food insecurity and obesity, and a variety of groups, including the rural population.
Date: 2011
Hunger in America 2010, National Report Prepared for Feeding America: Final Report
Author(s): James Mabli, Rhoda Cohen, Frank Potter, Zhanyun Zhao
Sponsoring organization: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Reports on the issue of hunger amongst people living in both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan America. Includes information on food insecurity, food assistance programs, health status, household income, poverty levels, and demographics. Key findings, the executive summary and full report can be accessed from this webpage.
Date: 01 / 2010
Informing Food and Nutrition Assistance Policy: 10 Years of Research at ERS
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Highlights some of the key research conducted during the program’s first decade.
Date: 12 / 2007
Local and Regional Food Systems for Rural Futures
Author(s): Jennifer Jensen
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Explores the opportunities and challenges for rural people in the local and regional food movement and food systems in general.
Date: 11 / 2010
Making Places for Healthy Kids: An Environmental Scan of Places Designed for Children to be Active
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Examines eight efforts to make changes in the environment that create opportunities for children to be more physically active in their daily lives, such as completing sidewalks for safe routes to school, building parks conducive to children's play and planting urban gardens to promote regular exercise and healthy eating.
Date: 02 / 2005
Map the Meal Gap 2011: Highlights of Findings
Sponsoring organization: Feeding America
Serves as an executive summary of the Map the Meal Gap project. Outlines 2009 county-level food insecurity estimates by income categories and offers an estimate of the food budget shortfall that food insecure individuals report experiencing. Includes data comparisons by geographic region and by metropolitan, micropolitan, and nonmetropolitan areas.
Date: 2011
Map the Meal Gap: Child Food Insecurity 2011
Sponsoring organization: Feeding America
Serves as an executive summary of the Map the Meal Gap project. Outlines 2009 estimates of child food insecurity (CFI) rates at state, county, and congressional district levels. Provides information on the proportions of the food insecure child population above and below the income threshold for most government child
nutrition programs, and an overview of food
cost variation. Includes data comparisons by metropolitan, micropolitan, and nonmetropolitan areas.
Date: 2011
Meeting Total Fat Requirements for School Lunches: Influence of School Policies and Characteristics
Author(s): Constance Newman, Joanne Guthrie, Lisa Mancino, Katherine Ralston, Melissa Musiker
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Uses school-level data from the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment-III to calculate statistical differences between the fat content of National School Lunch Program (NSLP) lunches served by schools with different policies (e.g., menu planning) and characteristics like region and size of the community and school.
Date: 11 / 2009
More Than One in Ten American Households Relies on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits
Author(s): Jessica A. Bean, Marybeth J. Mattingly
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Discusses the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and reports that increased demand for access to nutritious foods has been greatest in the South, in rural areas, and in single-mother households.
Date: 02 / 2011
Opening a Farmers Market on Federal Property: A Guide for Market Operators and Building Managers
Author(s): Karen Beach, Frank Giblin
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Addresses issues involved in starting a farmers market on federal property, including: security, insurance needs, parking, and the use of utilities and amenities.
Date: 09 / 2009
Overweight and Obesity in the South: Prevalence and Related Health Care Costs Among Population Groups
Author(s): Jerome R. Kolbo, Amal J. Khoury, Wendy Bounds, Jacquelyn Lee
Sponsoring organization: Southern Rural Development Center
Results of a study used to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Southern regions. Displays data by age, gender, race/ethnicity, income, and education level.
Journal citation: Food Assistance of the South Issue 13
Date: 07 / 2007
Patterns of Food Insecurity, Food Availability, and Health Outcomes Among Rural and Urban Counties (Final Report)
Author(s): Joel Halverson, Cheryl Brown, Melissa Olfert, Melissa Ahern, Christiaan Abildso
Sponsoring organization: West Virginia Rural Health Research Center
Reports that rural counties are disproportionately associated with high food insecurity risk relative to urban counties.
Date: 06 / 2011
Patterns of Food Insecurity, Food Availability, and Health Outcomes Among Rural and Urban Counties (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Joel Halverson, Cheryl Brown, Melissa Olfert, Melissa Ahern, Christian Abildso
Sponsoring organization: West Virginia Rural Health Research Center
Concludes that rural counties, compared to metropolitan counties, are disproportionately associated with high food insecurity risk.
Date: 06 / 2011
Reliance on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Continued to Rise Post-Recession
Author(s): Jessica A. Bean
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Uses data from the 2007, 2009, and 2010 American Community Survey to provide an up-to-date look at changes in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program receipt over the course of the recession.
Date: 2011
Rural and Central City Residents with Multiple Children Likely to Be Hardest Hit by Proposed WIC Cuts
Author(s): Jessica A. Bean
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Describes the implications of the cuts to the WIC budget to help policymakers and service providers to better understand the population likely affected by cuts to WIC funding.
Date: 07 / 2011
Rural Connections: Climate Change Adaptations in the Rural West
Sponsoring organization: Western Rural Development Center
Journal issue includes articles that address climate change in the West and the adverse consequences that may and do occur because of the region’s severe water shortages. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and severity of droughts, reduce mountain snowpack, and induce the need for food security adaptation plans.
Date: 06 / 2011
Rural Grocery Stores: Importance and Challenges
Author(s): Jon M. Bailey
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Examines trends regarding rural grocery stores, reasons why rural communities are losing grocery stores, and some of the personal and community
implications when a community lacks a grocery store. Also explores issues and challenges facing rural grocery stores.
Date: 10 / 2010
Rural Healthy People 2010: Nutrition and Overweight Concerns in Rural Areas
Author(s): Tom Tai-Seale, Coleman Chandler
Sponsoring organization: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
Addresses rural health issues associated
with the Healthy People 2010 focus area on
nutrition and overweight.
Date: 2003
Starved for Access: Life in Rural America's Food Deserts
Author(s): Lois Wright Morton, Troy C. Blanchard
Sponsoring organization: Rural Sociological Society
Discusses rural areas which are considered "food
deserts," areas with limited, if any, grocery stores.
Journal citation: Rural Realities Volume 1 Issue 4
Date: 03 / 2007
State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables, 2009
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Provides information on fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption, policy, and environmental support within each state. Addresses issues associated with nutritionally underserved areas.
Date: 09 / 2009
Strengthening Our Nation's Food Assistance Programs
Sponsoring organization: Southern Rural Development Center
Highlights important and practical contributions made by RIDGE researchers through studies that have focused on providing access to healthy foods at affordable prices, improving nutrition to build a healthy workforce, and responding to diverse needs in rural counties.
Date: 2007
Struggling To Feed the Family: What Does It Mean To Be Food Insecure?
Author(s): Mark Nord, Mark Prell
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Provides an overview of food insecurity, how it is measured, and the impact that food insecurity has.
Journal citation: Amber Waves Volume 2007 Issue June
Date: 06 / 2007
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) Plan Guidance
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Designed to guide state leaders in completing their food stamp nutrition education plan. Describes changes in policy and procedure.
Date: 2012
U.S. Rural Adults’ Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables: Who Is Consuming at Least Five Servings Daily?
Author(s): M. Nawal Lutfiyya, Linda Chang, Martin S. Lipsky
Sponsoring organization: Essentia Institute of Rural Health
Reports on a study that examined differences in fruit and vegetable consumption between U.S. rural and non-rural adults and identified associated characteristics. Presents data by various demographic markers, by state, and rural vs. urban.
Date: 2011
Understanding the Rural Food Environment: Perspectives of Low-income Parents
Author(s): Anush Yousefian, Al Leighton, Kimberly Fox, David Hartley
Describes barriers rural, low-income families face to access quality, affordable, and healthful food. Concludes that remedies used in urban areas will not help to fix the problem of food deserts in rural areas.
Journal citation: Rural and Remote Health Volume 11 Pages: 1631
Date: 04 / 2011
Visions of the Rural Milieu: United States
Author(s): Brian Dabson
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Assesses the status of agriculture in the U.S. and its relationship to the national and rural economies. Describes demographic trends impacting rural America and the potential of the rural environment to contribute to long-term sustainable development and food security.
Date: 07 / 2008
Journals
Amber Waves
Published quarterly and covers food, farming, natural resources, and rural America.
Rural Connections
Published two times each year, Rural Connections focuses each issue on a particular topic of interest to residents in the Western U.S. Contributors include researchers, faculty, and professionals from throughout the nation. Focuses on topics such as health communities, water, food security, sustainability, and renewable energy.
Organizations
Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC)
National organization
Dedicated to building strong, sustainable, local and regional food systems that ensure access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food for all people at all times.
Family-to-Family
Nonprofit/Foundation
A hunger relief program aimed at
helping profoundly poor and hungry rural American families. Links families with more to families with much less.
Feeding America
Nonprofit/Foundation
Nation's largest hunger relief organization. Network of 200+ food banks and food-rescue programs. Includes a directory of food banks by zip code or state. Previously, America's Second Harvest.
Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)
National organization
Works to improve public policies to eradicate hunger and undernutrition in the United States. Serves as the hub of an anti-hunger network of thousands of individuals and agencies across the country.
Meals on Wheels Association of America (MOWAA)
National organization
Works to bring meals to seniors in need including men and women who are elderly, homebound, disabled, frail, or at risk. Supports the Rural Initiative, a model for the rural Senior Nutrition Program.
School Nutrition Association (SNA)
National organization
Strives to see that all children have access to healthy school meals and nutrition education.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Federal government
Offers numerous funding opportunities such as Rural Economic Development Grants, Rural Business Opportunity Grants, Farm Labor Grants plus others.
USDA Food and Nutrition Service (USDA FNS)
Federal government
Increases food security and reduces hunger in partnership with cooperating organizations by providing children and low-income people access to food, a healthful diet, and nutrition education in a manner that supports American agriculture and inspires public confidence.
Volunteers of America (VOA)
National organization
Offers numerous human service programs, including housing, healthcare, at-risk youth, elderly, homeless, people with disabilities, recovering addicts, and those returning from prison. Provides listing of state offices.
Volunteers of America Southeast (VOASE)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Serves people along the Alabama-Mississippi-Georgia Gulf Coast who are hungry, homeless, and otherwise in need of assistance. Offers programs for children, chronic mental illness, hard of hearing, community enhancement, elderly, housing, and substance abuse.
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
Federal government
Protects the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age five by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care.
Terms & Acronyms
Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Allows for the distribution of food stamp benefits via a plastic debit card. These cards can be used at the point-of-sale terminals or retailers authorized by USDA to accept food stamp benefits.
Food Deserts Low-income communities without ready access to healthy and affordable food.
Food Gleaning Practice of gathering the extra crops in the field after a harvest and donating them to disadvantaged individuals.
Food Insecurity Limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food. At times during the year, unable to acquire enough food to meet the needs of all family members due to insufficient money or other resources for food.
Food Recovery Collection of wholesome food for distribution to the poor and hungry.
Food Rescue Collection of prepared foods from the food service industry.
Food Security Having access, at all times, to enough food for an active, healthy life. Ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies.
Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services (FNS) Federal agency that administers the Food Stamp program.
High Food Security No reported indications of food-access problems or limitations in the household.
Low Food Security Food-insecure households which obtained enough food to avoid substantially disrupting their eating patterns or reducing food intake, by using a variety of coping strategies, such as eating less varied diets, participating in Federal food assistance programs, or getting emergency food from community food pantries.
Marginal Food Security One or two reported indications - typically of anxiety over food sufficiency or shortage of food in the house. Little or no indication of changes in diets or food intake.
Nonperishable Food Collection Collection of processed foods with long shelf lives.
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) Known as "welfare reform." PRWORA implemented a number of significant changes in the welfare system such as the imposition of time limits and work requirements on recipients, and the devolution of welfare program administration authority to state governments.
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Provides block grants to states to administer programs to assist needy families.
Very Low Food Security Food-insecure households in which normal eating patterns of one or more household members are disrupted and food intake is reduced at times during the year because of insufficient money or other resources for food. In previous reports, these households were described as "food insecure with hunger."
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition Program which serves to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, & children up to age five who are at nutritional risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care.
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