Why Hunger
Knowledge is the key to creating better solutions
01Hunger Is All Around Us
Hunger lives in every corner of our world. It reveals itself in the places you’d expect – and the ones you don’t. It is a complex issue with a range of causes including unemployment, poverty, economic and political instability, and environmental factors.
In the United States, more than 37 million people are food insecure, including 11 million children. Internationally, more than 820 million people face daily hunger. It can be hard to understand such staggering statistics. That’s why we must remember these are far more than numbers.
They are our neighbors, friends and co-workers struggling to make ends meet. They are the children developing nations, with little to no access to food. They are the families choosing between healthy groceries and paying medical bills.
They are who we’re fighting for. Will you join us?
Get Involved
883260
Hoosiers are food insecure
37220000
Americans are food insecure
820000000
People worldwide are hungry
02What's It All Mean?
There are a lot of different terms you might see in conversations about hunger. We care about and are working to fight every aspect of it.
Here are a few helpful definitions relating to hunger:
- Food insecurity is a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food. *USDA
- Hunger is an individual-level physiological condition that results in discomfort, illness, weakness, or pain that goes beyond the usual uneasy sensation. *USDA
- Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients. The term malnutrition covers 2 broad groups of conditions. One is ‘undernutrition’—which includes stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height), underweight (low weight for age) and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies (a lack of important vitamins and minerals). The other is overweight, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer).
03Keep Learning
Interested in learning more about hunger? These trusted organizations provide valuable resources for understanding hunger around the world.
Help fight hunger by sponsoring a pack or making a donation.