Rural Connections Nov. 2009 Article: Food Insecurity in Western States

reports the federal government’s newest estimate of Oregon’s household food insecurity rate. Oregon’s unexpected ranking as one of the “hungriest” states in the late 1990s embarrassed state political leaders and mystified researchers. Its subsequent improvement in the early 2000s was the source of some pride among advocates and social service agency leaders. Its recent increase during the current economic crisis has swamped human services offices and area food banks. Over the past 10 years, Oregonians’ rising awareness of food insecurity as an income issue led to extraordinary efforts to provide emergency food and to enroll eligible people in federal food programs. Oregon’s story about food insecurity as a social problem and the public response to that problem may be unique, but we can only know that by comparing it to its neighbors and other Western states.