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One-quarter of food-insecure households visited food pantries in 2012

  • by Economic Research Service
  • 9/27/2013
  • Food Security in the U.S.
A chart showing the use of food pantries and emergency kitchens in 2012.

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Households having trouble putting adequate food on the table may rely on emergency food providers. About 5 percent of U.S. households acquired emergency food from a food pantry in 2012, and less than 1 percent obtained meals from emergency kitchens. Food-insecure households were more likely to use these assistance options. Food-insecure households are households that were, at times, unable to acquire adequate food for one or more household members because they had insufficient money and other resources for food. One-quarter of food-insecure households used food pantries and 3.1 percent used emergency kitchens. An estimated 36 percent of households with very low food security visited food pantries and 5.7 percent visited emergency kitchens. Households with very low food security are those that were food insecure to the extent that eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and their food intake reduced at some point during the year. The statistics for this chart are from the Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in 2012, AP-061, released on September 4, 2013.

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