Hunger Statistics

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(permission pending) photo courtesy of elca.org/hunger/


-The world population reached 6 billion individuals in the year 2000 while only 2.4% of the entire planet is suitable for agriculture. Still, this 2.4% produces enough to supply everyone with a 2,720 calorie a day diet (www.workers.org/ww/2002/hunger0627.php).

-1.2 billion people live at or below the poverty line (about $1 a day) and 700 million of the people suffer from malnutrition (www.thehungersite.com).

-It is estimated that 24,000 people die every day due to starvation and that every 4th child suffers from malnutrition or stunted growth (www.foodfirst.org). “Today 10% of children indeveloping countries die before the age of five” (www.thehungersite.com).

-Hunger is not just a problem in 3rd world and developing countries. Millions of Americans go without food each day. “In 1999, a year marked by good economic news, 31 million Americans went food insecure, meaning they were either hungry or unsure of where their next meal would come from. 12 million of these Americans were children” (www.thehungersite.com). `

-It seems that much of the media and news attention about the hunger crisis focuses on children, but another group that suffers terribly from the worldwide food shortage are senior citizens both in the U.S. and abroad. “Seniors make up 16.5% of all emergency food pantry clients, 17% of all soup kitchen clients, 4% of all emergency shelter clients, and 17.5% of the clients served by other non-congregate feeding programs such as Meals on Wheels, however, only account for 13% of the U.S. population” (www.thehungersite.org). 1.9 million senior citizens must choose between buying food or medical supplies (www.thehungersite.org