THE FACES OF HUNGER

The faces of hunger* in our 13-county service region are Caucasian, Hispanic, African-American, Asian and Native American. They may be your neighbors or your work colleague. He or she may be the child in school sitting next to your son or daughter.

The families and individuals we serve include:**

• Children, who are more than one-third (35 percent) of all individuals our network serves
• Senior citizens on fixed incomes
• Single parents earning minimum wage
• Chronically ill or severely disabled individuals
• Unemployed workers
• Homeless families and individuals
• Residents of suburbs and rural areas as well as the inner city. One-third of those receiving assistance through Tarrant Area Food Bank's network of agencies live in rural areas and in bedroom communities adjacent to Fort Worth.

The majority of people seeking food assistance were not receiving government benefits in 2005.

• Only 35 percent of the households seen by area agencies were receiving benefits from the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly called Food Stamps.
• Government welfare, or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), was the main source of income for less than 1 percent of households in 2005.

Among all households served by the Tarrant Area Food Bank network:

• Most do not have great numbers of children --- 68 percent of households have three or fewer members and many households consist of one elderly person;
• 47 percent of families with children younger than 18 are headed by single parents;
• The great majority of individuals (88 percent) receiving food assistance from our network are U.S. citizens.
• 55 percent have a total annual income of less than $10,000, whether from employment, pensions, or some form of Social Security;
• 50 percent are having to choose whether to buy food or pay for utilities;
• 46 percent are forced to choose between paying for medicine/medical care and buying groceries.

For additional facts about poverty and hunger in the Tarrant Area Food Bank service region, see Hunger Facts.

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* Hunger in the United States is measured by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as low or very low food security, that is, “food insecurity.”  Food insecurity is the inability to consistently access adequate amounts of nutritious food necessary for a healthy life. Any degree of food insecurity can lead to malnutrition and chronic hunger, which threaten a person’s health, and, in the case of the seriously ill or the very young or very old, can even threaten one’s life.
** Regional survey for Tarrant Area Food Bank conducted in 2005 as part of Hunger in America 2006, a study commissioned by Feeding America, the nationwide network of regional food banks. (Tarrant Area Food Bank participated in Feeding America’s 2009 hunger survey and will receive its regional report in early 2010.)