Sara Lee® Bread and U.S. Hunger, as a part of their multi-year partnership in the fight against hunger, have officially published results from a survey, which generates a comprehensive insight into the scale and impact of food insecurity across the country,
Named as ‘Empty Tables: The Hidden Reality of Food Insecurity,’ the stated report has been markedly designed to shed light on the staggering gap between Americans’ perception of food insecurity and the challenges many families face, particularly in the context of female caregivers. This report also highlights the nation’s willingness to lend support.
To understand the significance of such a development, we must take into account how, at the moment, food insecurity affects more than 13.5 million American households. This given number effectively means that 1 in every 10 households happen to struggle against the problem. Despite the clearly high prevalence of food insecurity, though, the data reveals that no more than 24 percent of Americans recognize it as one of the top three most pressing issues facing American households today.
“Sara Lee Bread has always strived to support moms and families across the US, and this partnership with U.S. Hunger is extremely important to us to help amplify that commitment,” said Nick Pitone, Senior Brand Manager at Sara Lee Bread. “This new data will help inform our future approach in how we support families facing food insecurity – and we hope it inspires meaningful action, providing a sense of love, comfort and community.”
Talk about the published results on a slightly deeper level, we begin from how they claim that a large part of American population isn’t even clear on what food insecurity is or the real extent of its impact. It gets to say so because almost 3 in 10 (29 percent) Americans say they are not at all/not very familiar with the term “food insecurity”
Furthermore, an estimated 38 percent of Americans were found to believe that households earning less than $25,000 annually make up the income level which submits the most requests for food assistance. However, in reality, food insecurity realistically impacts households that earn anywhere from $25,000 to 149,000 annually.
An estimated 47 percent of Americans reported to feel that food insecurity is rare among the average American family (i.e. dual income household).
Expanding upon the report’s focus on caregivers, only 37 percent of Americans deemed food insecurity among the top three issues that impact female caregivers today. Interestingly enough, the report even revealed that 3 in 10 (29 percent) Americans believe most food assistance applicants are unemployed when many female caregivers in need of this assistance are, in fact, employed, or have multiple jobs.
Apart from that, 3 in 5 (60 percent) Americans are seemingly unaware that female caregivers happen to be the most likely ones to sacrifice personal meals when experiencing food insecurity. Making this even more severe is how nearly 90 percent of female caregivers, at present, sacrifice their own meals to feed their families.
Among other things, the report found that 38 percent of Americans think unstable housing is among the most common housing situation for American households who experience food insecurity, but a majority (58 percent) of female caregivers does have stable housing and still rely on food assistance.
The report also reveals that 82 percent of Americans are interested in helping to fight food insecurity.
“More than 13 million households don’t know where their next meal is coming from, which can be especially tough around the holidays,” said Rick Whitted, President and CEO of U.S. Hunger. “U.S. Hunger is dedicated to providing solutions that extend far beyond just providing food assistance. Our goal is to leverage these findings to raise awareness around the struggles of food insecurity and increase opportunities for both education and action.”
The development in question delivers a rather interesting follow-up to Sara Lee Bread, quite recently, pledging $1 million in funding and product to U.S. Hunger organization by 2025. The whole arrangement consists of supporting the organization’s ‘Full Cart’ program, along with conducting meal packing events led by Sara Lee Bread and U.S. Hunger employees.
