Facing Food Insecurity: A Community Challenge that Demands Our Attention
September is Hunger Action Month—a time to raise awareness and inspire collective action to end food insecurity. While many of us may recognize the term “food insecure”, fewer understand what it truly means, how it’s measured, and how it impacts families right here in our community.
What Is Food Insecurity?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food insecurity as the lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to lead an active, healthy life. In 2006, the USDA began categorizing food insecurity into levels of severity including:
- Low food security: Reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet, with little or no indication of reduced food intake.
- Very low food security: Disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake due to insufficient resources to purchase food.
Food insecurity affects people from all walks of life—working families, seniors, students, and children.
Measuring Food Insecurity: How and Why
Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau, in partnership with the USDA’s Economic Research Service, surveys households to assess food insecurity. This data helps inform federal food and nutrition programs and shape public policy.
Households that participate in the survey are asked a series of questions—10 questions for households without children, and 18 questions for those with children. Sample questions include:
- Were you worried that your food would run out before you had money to buy more?
- Could you afford to eat balanced meals?
- Did you ever cut the size of meals or skip meals due to lack of money?
- Did you go a whole day without eating because there wasn’t enough money for food?
According to the Household Food Security in the United States in 2023 report, which is the most recent data:
- 86.5% of households are food secure.
- 13.5% of households—or 18 million households—are food insecure. This is a statistically significant increase from the 2022 level of 12.8% or 17 million households.
- 5.1% of households—or 6.8 million households experience very low food security, meaning members of the household were forced to skip meals, eat less, or go without food entirely at times. This is not statistically different from the 2022 level of 5.1%.
Food Insecurity in Wisconsin
While Wisconsin’s food insecurity rate is below the national average, the trend is still concerning:
- From 2018–2020, an average of 9.7% of households in Wisconsin were food insecure, with 3.1% experiencing very low food security.
- From 2020–2023, that number rose to 10.7% food insecure and 3.9% very low food secure households.
This rise indicates a growing need for support across our state.
Food Insecurity in Waukesha County
In 2022, The FOOD Pantry began collecting food insecurity data from our clients during the intake and annual update process. During the updates, we ask questions of our clients to better understand the level of food insecurity that our neighbors face. The questions that we ask are:
- Do you run out of food before the end of the month? In 2022, approximately 35% of households answered yes. In 2024, that number has increased to 57%.
- Are you skipping meals to try to save money? In 2022, approximately 24% of households answered yes. In 2024, that number has increased to 40%.
How You Can Help
While food insecurity in our country, state and county is on the rise, there is good news--We can make a difference—together. In celebration of Hunger Action Month, let's all take positive action to end hunger in our community.
Here are a few ways to take action this Hunger Action Month:
- Donate: The FOOD Pantry Serving Waukesha County is grateful for the generous support of our community with the donation of funds, food, baby items, and personal care items. Your generosity is vital to support our friends and neighbors in need.
- Host a Food Drive: Consider holding a food drive to support the Pantry. If you are interested in hosting a food drive, please reach out to jeremy@waukeshafoodpantry.org and we will work with you to arrange your drive.
- Purchase Meijer Simply Give Cards: On Saturday, September 13, the Meijer store at 801 E Sunset Drive in Waukesha is hosting a Double Match Day for the Simply Give program. When you purchase a $10 Meijer Simply Give card, Meijer will triple your impact by donating $30 to The FOOD Pantry, helping provide meals to those in need.
- Volunteer: Your time is valuable too. Our operation requires 30-35 volunteers a day. Please consider volunteering to support our clients. Please contact volunteer@waukeshafoodpantry.org to inquire about volunteer opportunities.
- Advocate: Support policies that strengthen programs like SNAP, WIC, and free/reduced cost school meals. Consider joining Voices Against Hunger, which is a citizen advocacy group led by Hunger Task Force to support initiatives to end hunger.
- Educate: Share what you’ve learned with others.
Food insecurity isn’t just a statistic—it’s a daily struggle for many of our neighbors.
By coming together as a community, we can ensure that every household has access to one of the most basic human needs: nutritious food.
Rabbitt, Matthew P., et al. Household Food Security in the United States in 2023. Economic Research Report No. ERR‑337, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Sept. 2024.
Tags in this Post: News , Programs , Nutrition , Facts , Policy
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