Over 2.2 million low-income California adults are food insecure; 658,000 suffer hunger.

A Publication of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research More than 2.24 million low-income adults in California cannot always afford to put food on the table, and as a result, almost one out of three of these adults, 658,000, experiences episodes of hunger. This is a sad reality in a state that has the largest agricultural economy in the United States and produces abundant highquality fruits and vegetables for much of the nation. The ranks of “food insecure” Californians include not just the most impoverished individuals but working adults, retired older persons with fixed incomes, and many parents with children. These new findings are based on data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2001). CHIS 2001 is California’s largest representative health survey of the state and its counties. The survey included a sizeable sample of the estimated 8 million low-income Californians – those living in households with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level.* It was found that more than 8.3% of these low-income adults experience food insecurity with hunger. Another 20.0%, one out of five low-income adults, experience food insecurity that falls short of hunger. Food insecurity, with or without hunger, causes families to forego such basic needs as rent, utilities, and medical care in order to put food on the table. Food security is defined as access to an adequate nutritious diet. Food security is a goal of any society, essential for the good health of all. Based on these new CHIS 2001 findings, the paradox of food insecurity and hunger in food-abundant California clearly shows that this state can do better. Measuring Food Insecurity Lack of assured access to enough food through socially acceptable means is termed food insecurity. In its extreme form, this results in hunger — going without food for lack of money or other resources. Over the last several decades, health advocates and researchers have worked on ways to accurately measure the prevalence of hunger and food insecurity in order to track trends using this basic indicator of human welfare. These efforts have resulted in the development of standard instruments to estimate the prevalence and severity of the problem. The food security measure that was used in CHIS 2001 is an abbreviated six-item scale derived from the 18-item U.S. Household Food Security Module used in national surveys.1 In CHIS 2001, the food security questions were asked only of individuals in households whose incomes were estimated to be less than 200% of the federal poverty level. The survey asked about a person’s food security over the previous 12-month period and focused on the lack of resources or money as reasons for food insecurity. The survey only interviewed persons living in households with telephones. Households without telephones and the homeless population are not included in these results.