U.S. Hunger Is at Lowest in a Decade
- Food-stamp rolls decreasing as Republicans want tougher rules
- New Mexico has highest food insecurity; Hawaii has lowest
A woman shops at a grocery store in Birmingham, Michigan.
Photographer: Sean ProctorThis article is for subscribers only.
The number of people facing hunger in the U.S. declined last year to the lowest since 2007 as unemployment fell, a key data point as Congress debates changes to food-aid programs as part of farm legislation.
About 40 million people were "food insecure" in 2017, meaning that at some point in the year their ability to obtain adequate food was in question, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in an annual study released Wednesday. That represents a 2.8 percent decline from 2016. Hunger was most prevalent in New Mexico, with 17.9 percent of households affected, while Hawaii’s rate of 7.4 percent was the lowest in the nation.