what is food insecurity?
Food insecurity: is defined as a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.
National Impact:
- In 2023, roughly 47.4 million people in the U.S. lived in food-insecure households.
North Carolina & Local Region Impact:
- According to a 2025 report from Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina (serving a 34‑county region), 607,630 people in that service area are currently food insecure — about 1 in 7 (≈ 14.5 %).
- Statewide, the same report estimates around 1,627,360 North Carolinians are food insecure (about 15% of the population), with 438,200 children under 18 also facing food insecurity.
- Among children in the state: about 1 in 5 kids and teens (≈ 18.9 %) are estimated to be food insecure.
- The problem is not evenly distributed: there are significant racial and demographic disparities. In the 34‑county region, food insecurity affects ~ 28% of Black households and ~ 23% of Latino/a/e households — well above the ~ 11% of white households.
Wake County Snapshot:
- According to a more recent county‑level estimate, about 13% (≈ 1 in 8) of Wake County residents face food insecurity.
- Among racial and ethnic groups in Wake County: roughly 1 in 4 Black residents and 1 in 5 Hispanic/Latino residents face hunger — rates significantly higher than among White residents (about 1 in 11).
- Children are among the more impacted groups