When hunger hits home: How noncommercial is tackling the issue of food insecurity

One in six children in the United States experiences hunger. 

And more than 12 million children are from homes facing food insecurity. That’s more than 17% of all kids under the age of 18 who have had limited access to enough good food at some point during the last year, according to No Kid Hungry. That percentage jumps to 25% of all kids in Arkansas; 24% in Arizona; and 26.3% in Mississippi.

One in five college and university students regularly skip meals to prioritize other expenses such as transportation, books and healthcare—not to mention the rapidly inflating cost of attending school in the first place.

Thirty-two percent of students said that hunger or housing problems have had an impact on their educations, according to Swipe Out Hunger, an organization that partners with universities to facilitate meal-swipe donations. Though its partnership with 13 schools, including UCLA, Penn State and Pepperdine, 125,847 meals have been provided to food-insecure college students since 2010.

More than 4.9 million senior citizens are food insecure. That’s about one in 12, according to Feeding America. Poor health is both a cause and a consequence of food insecurity for seniors, resulting in rising healthcare costs and inadequate employment.

Every age experiences hunger in the U.S. today. And hunger is on the rise.

The noncommercial industry, across every segment, shares the goal of satiating that hunger—reducing it. Join us as we learn from some best-in-class operations and find out how they’ve adjusted their offerings and procedures to extend their ability to nourish those who need it most.

Click below to see how operators across segments are addressing this growing issue.