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Hunger Facts

Hunger in the United States

  • 49.1 million people lived in food-insecure households in 2008, including 32.4 million adults and 16.7 million children.
    [1]
  • 17.3 million people lived in households that were considered to have very low food security, up from 11.9 million in 2007 and 8.5 million in 2000.[2] Of these individuals, 12.1 million adults and 5.2 million children lived in households with very low food insecurity.[3]
  • 14.6 percent (17 million) of households were food insecure, up from 11.1 percent (13 million) of households in 2007.[4] One-third of these food insecure households (6.7 million households, or 5.7 percent of all U.S. households) had very low food security, up from 4.7 million (4.1 percent) in 2007.[5]

More United States Hunger Facts

Hunger in Michigan

In Wayne County:
Poor Children: 151,821
Child Poverty Rate: 29.3%
Total Poor: 390,899
Poverty Rate: 20.0%

In Oakland County:
Poor Children: 29,076
Child Poverty Rate: 10.2%
Total Poor: 94,742
Poverty Rate: 8.0%

In Macomb County:
Poor Children: 21,917
Child Poverty Rate: 11.4%
Total Poor: 70,758
Poverty Rate: 8.7%

Prevalence of Household-Level Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security by State 2006-2008 (Average):
Michigan: 12.0%

Statistics are from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)

International
Israel
  • Hunger is on the rise in Israel. Throughout the country, increasing numbers of Israelis are relying on emergency food programs to meet their most basic nutritional needs. 22% of Israeli citizens - approximately 1,100,000 people - are food insecure. Of those Israeli citizens who are food insecure, 60% are Jewish, 20% are Arab, and 20% are new immigrants.
  • According to the National Insurance Institute, nearly 30% of Israeli children - approximately 690,000 - live below the national poverty line. Over 20% of Israel's elderly live below the national poverty line.
Download the April 2004 report on poverty and income inequality in Israel by the National Insurance Institute of Israel.

The World
Population: 6,406,000,000 million
# of people undernourished: 848,000,000 million (13%)

Other Stats:
  • In 2005, almost 1.4 billion people lived below the international poverty line, earning less than $1.25 per day.

Developed Countries
Population: 1,264,000,000 million
# of people undernourished: 15,000,000 million

Developing World
Population: 5,141,000,000 million
# of people undernourished: 907,000,000 million (16%)

Other Stats:
  • 907 million people in developing countries alone are hungry.[6]
  • Based on enrollment data, about 72 million children of primary school age in the developing world were not in school in 2005; 57% of them were girls. And these are regarded as optimistic numbers.[7]
More International Hunger Facts

  1. Household Food Security in the United States, 2008. USDA: Economic Research Service
  2. "FRAC - Hunger in the U.S." Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). 17 Nov. 2009.
  3. Household Food Security in the United States, 2008. USDA: Economic Research Service
  4. Household Food Security in the United States, 2008. USDA: Economic Research Service
  5. Household Food Security in the United States, 2008. USDA: Economic Research Service
  6. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008, FAO: Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations, 2008
  7. Millennium Development Goals Report, United Nations 2007