Economic Research Report No. (ERR-215) 44 pp

September 2016

Household Food Security in the United States in 2015

An estimated 12.7 percent of American households were food insecure at least some time during the year in 2015, meaning they lacked access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. That is down from 14.0 percent in 2014. The prevalence of very low food security declined to 5.0 percent from 5.6 percent in 2014. Both declines are statistically significant.

Keywords: Food security, food insecurity, food spending, food pantry, soup kitchen, emergency kitchen, material well-being, material hardship, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, Food Stamp Program, National School Lunch Program, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, WIC

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