This year's Map the Meal Gap results suggest that food insecurity remains high across Florida, Mississippi and Alabama's southern regions, according to Bay Area Food Bank representatives.
The food insecurity rate for people across the Central Gulf Coast remained at 17 percent, according to new data. The child food insecurity rate across the food bank’s service area rose to 25.2 percent, meaning one in every four children struggles daily with hunger.
Florida's hunger statistics exceed national averages.
The national child food insecurity rate is 21.6 percent, while in Florida it is 27.6 percent.
In Florida, the total population has a food insecurity rate of 17.9 percent, again surpassing the nationwide food insecurity rate of 15.9 percent.
Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap 2014 results include detailed analysis of food insecurity. It's purportedly the only study available that provides county-level food insecurity estimates in the United States.
Research for the study was supported by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, ConAgra Foods Foundation and Nielsen.
LOCAL HUNGER
The USDA defines food insecurity as a socioeconomic condition of limited or uncertain access to enough food to support a healthy life.
Regional food insecurity in the Bay Area Food Bank's tri-state coverage area is as follows:
• Florida's number of hungry residents exceed national averages.
• 1 in 4 local children struggle with some type of hunger
• In Florida, the average meal costs $2.88, which is approximately $250 per month for an adult.
• Nearly 40 percent of food-insecure families earn too high of an income for government food program support.
Source: Feeding America's 2014 Map the Meal Gap results, spanning the Florida Panhandle, South Alabama and South Mississippi
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Map the Meal Gap study finds 1 in 4 local children struggle with hunger