Hungry in Chicago

In the city of Chicago, 1 in 6 are “food insecure.”

Think about that for a second. 800,000 people in the city of Chicago do not know where their next meal is coming from. That could be related to a number of different things. It could be that they are in a food desert, meaning that there are barely any stores with fresh produce or grocery stores.

To be “food secure,” food must be nutritious, affordable, and easily available.

To put this number in perspective, 50 million people across the United States are food insecure. 17 million of those are children.

To localize that number: 87% of the 400,000 children in Chicago Public Schools qualify for free or reduced lunches, which is a federally accepted standard for poverty.

We have all heard the public service announcements about the 1 in 8 who are hungry. But do you really know your neighbors well enough to know if they are part of that 1 in 8? They probably won’t mention it.

Poverty is in the least likely of places: northwest side, far north side, near north. However, poverty is most concentrated in the south and west sides of the city. 

To volunteer with Feeding America or to find ways to volunteer in your local community, click here

This blog was written as part of a final project regarding hunger in Chicago for a class on Human Rights at Columbia College Chicago.