In the report, 12 percent of the households in Washington State were food insecure. That compares with 11.6 percent the previous year. In numbers, that equates to more than 284,600 households in the state that are not able to access enough food to meet basic nutritional requirements.

Additionally, the report shows that households with hunger have increased. Last year, Washington had a rate of 3.9 percent of all households where some members of the household experienced hunger due to a lack of financial resources. This year, that rose to 4.3 percent of all households in the state.

The report has been released every year since 1995 and the report released today looks at households for the calendar year 2004. Data does not reflect situations that arose due to the recent hurricanes.

Nationally, the report shows that 38.2 million Americans are food insecure, including 13.8 million children. The number of Americans experiencing food insecurity has been on the rise for five straight years. In percentages, 11.9 percent of households in the nation are food insecure, and 3.9 percent of households report members going hungry on a regular basis.

"We continue to reach out to hungry people in Western Washington and work to meet their nutritional needs so that no one is without food to feed their children or themselves," said Linda Nageotte, President & CEO at Food Lifeline. "It is alarming to see the rate of hunger continue to grow year to year at the same time as the U.S. Congress is considering cuts in programs such as Food Stamps, which serve the most vulnerable populations."

When compared to other states in the nation, Washington ranks as the 9th hungriest state, with 37 states including the District of Columbia reporting fewer households experiencing hunger and a lack of access to nutritious food. (Some states were tied in rankings.) Last year, Washington was ranked 10th.

Among the hungriest states are Oklahoma, South Carolina and Arkansas. States in the south and the west show the highest prevalence of hunger.

Food insecurity rates declined in seven states and climbed in 13 others. Oregon was the only state to show a statistically significant reduction in the rate of food insecure households with hunger.

Single female-headed households with children throughout the nation continue to have substantially higher rates of food insecurity than all other household types. The rate of hunger is higher African-American and Hispanic households. Nationally, 7.4 percent of African-American households and 5.4 percent of Hispanic households experience hunger compared to 2.6 Caucasian households.

For more information on the USDA's Household Food Security in the United States 2004 visit the USDA website.

About Food Lifeline
Food Lifeline is the largest non-profit food distribution organization in Washington dedicated to hunger relief, and is the Western Washington affiliate of America's Second Harvest.

Food Lifeline secures 21 million pounds of food a year and distributes it through a Western Washington network of more than 250 neighborhood food banks, hot meal programs and shelters. To learn more, check out Food Lifeline's website. Food Lifeline is located at 1702 NE 150th St., Shoreline, WA 98155-7226. For more information about Food Lifeline call (206) 545-6600 or (800) 404-7543.

Contact Information

Leslie Kelly Media and Community Relations Coordinator for Food Lifeline (206) 545-6600, ext. 267, or lesliek@fll.org.


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