Map the Meal Gap
We believe that addressing the problem of hunger requires a thorough understanding of the problem. Feeding America has undertaken the Map the Meal Gap analysis to continue learning about how the face of food insecurity can vary at the local level. By better understanding variations in local need, communities can develop more targeted strategies to better reach people struggling with hunger. Although Feeding America continually seeks to meet the needs of food-insecure people, quantifying the need for food within a community can be challenging.
In the summer of 2022, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service released its most recent food insecurity report, indicating that more than 34 million people in the United States live in food-insecure households, of whom 9 million are children (Feeding America). While the magnitude of the problem is clear, national and even state estimates of food insecurity can mask the variation that exists at the local level.
In The Foodbank’s service area, 99,090 people struggle with food insecurity (13.4%) with 32,660 of them being children.
In Greene County, 18,660 people struggle with food insecurity (11.1%) with 4,700 of them being children.
In Montgomery County, 75,810 people struggle with food insecurity (14.2%) with 26,700 of them being children.
In Preble County, 4,620 people struggle with food insecurity (11.3%) with 1,260 of them being children.