Facts About Hunger in Florida

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Jan 24, 2012, 02:38 ET

CHICAGO, Jan. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With talk on the campaign trail in Florida touching on aspects of hunger and food assistance programs, please take at a look at the facts:

Florida Hunger Statistics

Total food insecurity rate (availability of food and one's access to it): 17 percent
- Total number of food insecure people: 3.1 million
Total child food insecurity rate: 28 percent
- Total number of children who are food insecure: 1.1 million
Florida County with largest number of food insecure people: Hendry County.
- 23 percent total food insecure
- 38 percent child food insecure
Florida's biggest counties (number, percentage of food insecure people)
- Dade County: 432,990 people, 17.6 percent
- Broward County: 281,480 people, 16 percent
- Orange County: 180,470 people, 17 percent
- Duval County: 154,800 people, 18 percent
- Hillsborough, 200,590 people, 17.2

Food Insecurity in the United States

Nearly 49 million people in the US are food insecure, about 1 in 6 Americans
16 million children are food insecure, more than 1 in 5 children

SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly Food Stamps)

SNAP provides over 46 million low-income participants, more than 2.6 million in Florida, with monthly benefits via a grocery debit card.
In FY 2012, the average SNAP household had a gross monthly income of $731 nationally, but only $608 in Florida.
The average length of time a participant stays on the program is 9 months.[i]
In FY 2010, children and seniors accounted for more than half (55%) of SNAP participants in Florida.
The accuracy rate of 96.19 percent (FY2010) is now at an all-time program high and program error rates have declined 61 percent since FY 1999. This rate considerably higher than other major benefit programs, like Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (90%), Medicare fee-for-service (89.5%), Unemployment Insurance (88.8%), and Medicare Advantage Part C (85.9%).[ii]

"Millions of Americans are unemployed and millions of others are working for reduced wages or working fewer hours. Many of these people never thought they would need a helping hand, but are now turning to programs like SNAP," said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America. "We know that the number of people coming to Feeding America food banks for assistance increased a staggering 46 percent in the last few years. Food stamps and other anti-hunger programs give hope to struggling Americans and protect them from deeper crisis as they work to get back on their feet."

About Feeding America

Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit http://www.feedingamerica.org. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow our news on Twitter at twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.

[i] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Fact Sheet. http://www.fns.usda.gov/cga/FactSheets/SNAP.htm.

[ii] Payment Accuracy Website. High Error Programs. http://paymentaccuracy.gov/high-priority-programs.

CONTACT: Paula Thornton Greear, +1-312-641-5663

SOURCE Feeding America