In 2007 36.2 million people lived in food insecure households in the
United States (Food Research and Action Center –FRAC)

Of those households, 12.4 million of the members were children
(Food Research and Action Center – FRAC)

In low-income communities in Massachusetts, 522,000
households struggle to put enough food on their tables.
(Project Bread –The Walk for Hunger)

Families who have difficulty buying fresh healthy foods experience
types I & II diabetes, obesity and decreased learning abilities and
performance in school.

We are entering a new era of food insecurity: the numbers of
food insecure people are increasing, and there is no evidence to
suggest that this will change.

Good nutrition through hunger relief programs like food pantries,
meals programs, shelters and day programs alleviates health problems
as well as the cost to our Commonwealth to treat residents whose
health problems are related to hunger and poor nutrition.

The Merrimack Valley Food Bank distributes an average of 2 million
pounds of food annually through a network of 100 emergency feeding agencies, including shelters, soup kitchens and food pantries in 25 communities.
This translates to 1,538,461 meals.

*Mel and Agnes are in their 40’s and have 12 year old twins. Agnes has rheumatoid arthritis and hypertension, resulting in limited mobility. Mel continued working after being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, and was in extreme pain. Now both are disabled and unable to work. Agnes says, The food pantry helps us, especially in these times when a lot of people have limited income.” Mel and Agnes appreciate the nutritious food they receive, including fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, cereal and canned soup, from the Mobile Pantry program of the Merrimack Valley Food Bank.

*Not their real names, but an actual family served by a local food pantry.

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