Although some people think of domestic hunger as an urban problem, affecting mostly homeless single men in city centers, hunger doesn’t discriminate by geographic area.  In fact, it is often the same communities that produce our nation’s bounty that suffer the most from the devastating effects of hunger and poverty.  Rural communities contend with disproportionately high rates of poverty, unemployment, and food insecurity, which is the government’s own measure of hunger or risk of hunger.  Case in point: the poverty rate is the highest in completely rural counties and counties with high unemployment are disproportionately located in very rural areas.

Children in rural locales are particularly vulnerable.  Poverty rates for rural children are higher than rates of poverty among children in metropolitan areas.  In 2007, 17.7% of rural households with children were estimated to be food insecure.  Regionally, household food insecurity is highest in the South and impacts an estimated 5 million children.

It’s ironic that people who see our nation’s food supply growing might themselves go hungry, but rural communities have more unique challenges in battling hunger, including fewer grocery stores, high food costs, and limited transportation.  As we plan upcoming stops on the Americans Feeding Americans Emergency Caravan™, we will continue to make sure that we don’t forget our brothers and sisters in rural America.

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