The hunger-relief charity Feeding America has released numbers indicating one in four children in Indiana are “at risk of hunger,” according to a press release sent by Julio Alonso of the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.
The Feeding America project is called “Map the Meal Gap,” and includes an interactive map that is shaded to depict hunger in the United States. The more hungry residents a state has, the darker it is shaded. Two maps depict overall and child hunger; the map of child hunger is noticeably darker.
In Indiana, for example, 16 percent of adults are at risk of hunger, while “the food insecurity rate for children is 25.1 percent,” according to the release.
Being at risk of hunger means that the head of household does not have the resources to ensure all members of the household, or family, are getting enough calories every day. Many families experiencing this lack of food security use the services of places such as Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, which the Hoosier Hills Food Bank supplies with food.