Hunger in America 2010 – A comprehensive study on hunger in the D.C. Metro Area
This study reveals a 25 percent increase in Washington metro area residents needing emergency food assistance.
Current State of Hunger
Hunger sees no color, and it knows no age. Right now, over 640,000 local area residents are at risk of being hungry; 200,000 of them are children. (U.S. Census American Community Survey 2006-2008)
People affected by hunger are often not who you might expect them to be. Many people at risk of hunger live in and around the wealthiest areas of Northern Virginia and the DC metropolitan area. They are working families, elderly people, and homeowners that must frequently choose between buying groceries and paying for medicine, bills, or childcare.
Hunger’s negative effects can be seen in school, at work, and at home. Children have a diminished capacity to learn; adults can’t work as effectively; and seniors are more prone to illness. Ultimately, widespread malnutrition affects the entire region by keeping thousands of our neighbors from living to their fullest potential and from sharing their ideas, energy, and talents with the community.
In 2009, calls to the Hunger Lifeline increased 71 percent versus 2008. This demand required that we deliver even more food to our 700 nonprofit partner agencies in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area, which includes food pantries, day care and recreation centers, senior centers, faith-based organizations, homeless shelters and soup kitchens.
