Food insecurity exists in every county across the U.S., making food assistance critical for millions in need

While food insecurity in America is by no means a new problem, it has been made worse by the Great Recession. Now, about 49 million people in the U.S. are living in food insecure households, and nearly 47 million receive assistance from national food banks. Looking at the results of Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap study, Elaine Waxman, Amy Satoh & Craig Gundersen write that unemployment is a major driver of the food insecurity which exists in every county in the U.S. They argue that food insecurity can be addressed through improving people’s participation in federal food assistance programs, especially among children.