Map the Meal Gap 2019 study finds food insecurity exists in every Valley county

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A national study shows that Mahoning Valley children are more likely to face hunger than the overall population in America.

Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley announced the release of Map the Meal Gap 2019, the latest report by Feeding America Æ on food insecurity and the cost of food at both the county and congressional district level. It is the only study that provides food-insecurity data at the local level, said Michael Iberis, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank in Youngstown.

Map the Meal Gap 2019 reveals that food insecurity exists in every county in Second Harvest’s service area. It also shows that children are more likely to be food insecure, with the child food-insecurity rate at 23.4 percent compared with 15.8 percent for the overall population, in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties – areas served by Second Harvest.

Overall, food insecurity in the Mahoning Valley ranges from a low of 14 percent of the population in Columbiana County to 16.4 percent in Mahoning County, Iberis said.

“Each week, Second Harvest, through its network of 160 member agencies, is filling more than 13,000 requests for food assistance in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties,” he said.

Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley is a member of Feeding America’s hunger-relief network, which is made up of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs that together provide food assistance to more than 40 million people in the U.S. struggling with hunger.

Map the Meal Gap 2019 uses data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and food price data and analysis provided by Nielsen, a global provider of information and insights. The study is supported by the Howard G. Buffet Foundation.

The Map the Meal Gap 2019 data enables policy-makers, state agencies, corporate partners, food banks and advocates to develop integrated strategies to fight hunger on a community level, Iberis said.

A summary of the findings, an interactive map of the United States and the full report are available at map.feedingamerica.org.

In 2018, Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley distributed more than 10 million pounds of food, including 3 million pounds of produce. For information on Second Harvest, visit www.mahoningvalleysecondharvest.org or call 330-792-5522.