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Vermonters are healthy and 1 more... less...

Vermonters are Healthy

Estimated percentage of Vermont residents age 60+ who face the threat of hunger

Current Value

6.30

2022

Definition

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Story Behind the Curve

This report demonstrates that the threat of hunger among seniors in America is a continued challenge facing the nation. Despite the end of the Great Recession in 2009, almost 1 in 6 seniors faced the threat of hunger in 2015, and the number of seniors facing the threat is 113% higher in 2015 compared to 2001. Given the compelling evidence in Ziliak and Gundersen (2017) that food insecurity is associated with a host of poor nutrition and health outcomes among seniors, this report implies that these high rates of food insecurity among seniors will likely lead to additional public health challenges for our country. This suggests that a key potential avenue to stem the growth of health care expenditures on older Americans is to ameliorate the problem of food insecurity.

  • Food insecure seniors have lower nutrient intakes.

  • Food insecure seniors have worse health outcomes.

  • The effect of food insecurity holds even for a lower-income sample.https://www.feedingamerica.org/research/state-senior-hunger

 

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Notes on Methodology

To produce our local food insecurity estimates, we use publicly available state and local data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics on factors that research has shown to contribute to food insecurity. One of these factors is poverty; however, food insecurity and poverty are not the same. Data from the USDA indicate that most people living in poverty are food secure, and the majority of people facing hunger live above the federal poverty line ($31,200 for a family of four as of January 2024).

Regardless of whether a person officially lives in poverty or resides in a food-insecure home, the reality is that many people need food assistance. Unlike assistance provided by food banks and similar organizations, availability of government support typically varies based (in part) on household income as it relates to the poverty level. Income eligibility thresholds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s largest food assistance program, and the first line of defense against hunger, range from 130% to 200% of the federal poverty line ($40,560 to $62,400 for a family of four as of January 2024). As a result, many people who are food insecure have incomes or assets that are too high to qualify for these critical benefits. National data from the USDA indicates that approximately 50% of people facing hunger have incomes that are above the federal gross income limit for SNAP (130% of the federal poverty line) and thus may be ineligible for the program. Local estimates from Map the Meal Gap suggest rates are even higher in some communities.

The quantity of households that experience food insecurity and do not qualify for SNAP further underscores the importance of charitable food assistance. While these findings only reflect SNAP income eligibility, not everyone who qualifies for SNAP is enrolled, highlighting the need to both protect and strengthen federal nutrition programs, and increase enrollment.

https://map.feedingamerica.org/county/2022/senior-60-plus

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