Los Angeles County Has The Largest Food-Insecure Population In The Country

Food insecurity — a lack of reliable, nutritious food sources — is a problem that exists in every county and congressional district in America. This startling fact was reported by Feeding America, the hunger awareness organization that just released a study called Map the Meal Gap 2015 that analyzes food insecurity levels across the United States.

The county with the highest rate of food insecurity is Holmes County, Mississippi, where more than one-third of the population does not have regular access to affordable, nutritious food. Perhaps more surprisingly, Los Angeles County is home to the highest food insecure population, with nearly 1.5 million food insecure people countywide, or 14.7 percent of the population.

Los Angeles is also home to the largest population of children suffering from food insecurity: nearly one in four Los Angeles children under the age of 18 are at risk for hunger. Since 2011, there has been a movement to serve breakfast to children in the classroom, which has increased school breakfast participation rates and hopefully quelled some hungry stomachs.

On Hunger Action Day, held on May 12 and 13, Los Angeles residents will push for further action to diminish the effects of hunger and food insecurity throughout California.