Feeding Illinois

Hunger in Illinois

The recent economic downturn has had a devastating impact in Illinois.

  • Unemployment is 11% statewide(1)
  • 1,532,238 people, including 500,000 children, now live in poverty in Illinois – 12.2% of the total population (2)

Because hunger is a symptom of poverty, the demand for emergency and government nutrition programs has exploded.

  • Feeding Illinois has seen a 50% increase in requests for emergency food assistance over the past two years.
  • 1,607,496 individuals and 756,341 Illinois households participated in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) in February 2010, formerly known as the food stamp program. This is a 14% increase in the number of households participating from the previous year. (3)
  • According to the USDA, 11.1% of Illinois households face food insecurity. (4)
  • Over 1,991,026 Illinois children are enrolled in the National School Lunch Program and are eligible to receive free and reduced lunch during the 2009-10 school year. (5)

Feeding America’s Hunger in America 2010: Illinois State Report (hyperlink to report) found that Feeding Illinois food banks provided emergency food to 1.4 million Illinois residents in 2009, which is 1 in 10 men, women, and children in our state. The report further found that:

  • 42% of those we serve are children
  • 28% of households had at least one working adult
  • 14% of the unemployed we serve had been unemployed for less than 6 months
  • 84% of Feeding Illinois clients report that over the previous 12 months they have been in a situation where the food they bought just didn’t last and they did not have money to get more.

Feeding Illinois has responded to this time of critical need.

  • Feeding Illinois food banks provided almost 109 million pounds of food, a 29% increase over last year, to hungry people in response to this increased need.
  • Feeding Illinois successfully advocated for legislative creation of a Statewide Commission to End Hunger that will create a two-year plan to address hunger in Illinois.
  • Feeding Illinois worked with Senator Milner to create a legislative Anti-Hunger Caucus in the Illinois legislature.
  • Feeding Illinois conducts SNAP outreach and education to increase access to and participation in the SNAP (formerly food stamp) program so that families can begin to move from crisis to sustainability.

There is still work to be done in order to provide an adequate amount of high-quality, nutritious food to hungry families. You can help.

  • There is currently no state appropriation for emergency feeding programs in Illinois. Help us advocate for a state appropriation.
  • Illinois ranks 51st in the nation in the free breakfast program and only 16.6% of eligible children participate in the summer food service program. (6)

(1) Based on April 2010 data provided by the IL Dept. of Employment Security, Local Area Unemployment Statistics available on-line at http://lmi.ides.state.il.us/laus/lausmenu.htm
(2) U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, calculations conducted by the Social Impact Research Center at Heartland Alliance.
(3) USDA. FNS Program Data. Available at http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/data.htm.
(4) USDA. Mark Nord, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. Household Food Security in the United States, 2008.
(5) Illinois State Board of Education, FY10 at http://www.isbe.net/nutrition/htmls/eligibility_listings.htm
(6) Food Research Action Center (FRAC), Hunger in the United States: State of the States, updated February 2009. Available at http://www.frac.org/State_Of_States/2008/states/IL.pdf

© 2010 Feeding Illinois

4100 West Ann Lurie Place, Chicago, Illinois 60632, (773) 843-5425, Fax: (773) 247-4232