Lewis Helps Release New Study On Hunger and Food Insecurity

A release from the office of state senator Jason Lewis:

State Senator Jason Lewis joined leaders from the Greater Boston Food Bank, Children’s HealthWatch, and Boston Medical Center, and officials from state and Boston city government to unveil a new report highlighting the health-related costs of hunger and food insecurity in Massachusetts. The report – available at http://www.MACostOfHunger.org/ - notes that the avoidable health costs of hunger in Massachusetts added up to $2.4 billion in 2016 alone, with far-reaching impacts as one in ten Massachusetts households lacks the resources necessary to afford enough food for all household members to lead active, healthy lives. This eye-opening figure reflects the avoidable costs of doctor’s visits, hospital stays, emergency room treatment, prescription medications, home healthcare, and much more associated with food insecurity. It also includes lost work time, low productivity, premature death and special education expenditures, indirect costs that sap the economic health of our state. “Food security should be a basic human right,” noted Senator Lewis at the report’s release.