A report from a national nonprofit is shining a light on how food insecurity affects rural populations.
New data from Feeding America shows that nearly 1 in 5 children in Russell County suffer from food insecurity.
The new report from the year 2020 shows that 19.3 percent, or about 780 Russell County children, are believed to suffer from food insecurity.
According to the national nonprofit that operates more than 200 food banks, almost 3,000 people in Russell County suffer from food insecurity, or about 16.6 percent of the population.
In neighboring counties, 15.2 percent of Adair County’s population is considered food insecure while that number rises to 17.3 percent in Casey County. Numbers are lower in neighboring Clinton County at 15.9 percent and Cumberland County at 14.7 percent. Pulaski County is slightly higher at 16.7 and Wayne County is at 16.1 percent.
Food insecurity is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as the lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life.
This data was provided by Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap.
