SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – New numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that 17 million households are dealing with some level of food insecurity.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that this report is a sobering reminder that too many of our neighbors struggle to put healthy food on the table.
The report found that the 87.2 percent of U.S. households were food secure in 2022. However, 17 million households were food insecure at some point during the year, including 6.8 million households that reported very low food security.
These statistics paint a picture of just how many Americans faced the heartbreaking challenge last year of struggling to meet a basic need for themselves and their families. Jenni Adamczyk, the Executive Director at Providence Ministries says they are doing what they can locally
to make sure no one goes to bed hungry.
“We have responded to that need by adding an additional meal service so now Kate’s kitchen offers dinner from 5-6. We’re seeing children families moms and so there’s definitely an increased need. Yo varying degrees across households. And we’re just happy to meet some of those needs for our community,” said Adamczyk.
The amount of food insecure individuals and families outweigh the amount of people who sought help during the pandemic.
Kate’s Kitchen serves homeless and low incomes populations in surrounding communities.
Melissa Torres is a reporter who has been a part of the 22News team since 2021. Follow Melissa on X @melissatorrestv and view her bio to see more of her work.
