Borrowed with permission from the Lancaster County Food Hub
Food insecurity is defined by the USDA as the lack of access to enough food for a healthy life. We call it plain old hunger. Hunger can affect people from all walks of life and most often affects our neighbors who live in poverty.
Millions of people in America are just one job loss, missed paycheck, or medical emergency away from hunger. Despite new, short term food subsidy programs, the pandemic has increased food insecurity among families with children, senior neighbors, and communities of color who already face hunger at much higher rates.
What does food insecurity look like in Lancaster County?
- 52,160 people or 10.2% of our population are food insecure
- 16% of children in the county and 39.9% of children in the city live in poverty and are food insecure
- 61% of Lancastrians receive food assistance (SNAP) benefits
Food Resources to Help Address Hunger
Buying nutritious food is expensive, but good-for-you food is essential! At the Food Hub, we are intentional about serving our clients fresh and healthy food.
In addition to wholesale food bank partners and generous food drives like the yearly Boy Scouts collection, food recovery efforts provided by corporate partners keep good nutrition on family tables and out of landfills.
Food Hub trucks travel to local grocers and distributors to collect food donations daily. Thanks to these partnerships, we are able to offer a wide assortment of fresh produce, prepared meals, and deli salads, in addition to traditional food staples from food banks, with every order.
All of our food resources add up to over 1.2 million pounds of food processed at the Food Hub each year!
Special Thanks to Our Food Recovery Partners. Read more about how you can get involved on our website: The Lancaster County Food Hub.
