September 2009 Economic Impact Survey
SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS
Feeding America is the nation’s largest domestic hunger‐relief organization, serving an estimated 25
million low‐income Americans each year through its network of 205 food banks and their 63,000
charitable feeding agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters.
The current recession and the rise in unemployment are having a profound effect on the nation’s food
banks. In early September 2009, Feeding America conducted a brief survey of food bank members to
learn more about the challenges faced by food banks, their member agencies, and clients served. A
total of 176 food banks participated in the survey. Following are key findings from the survey:
Rising Demand, Rising Unemployment
• Rising need for emergency food is nearly universal – 99% of all participating food banks reported
increases in demand for emergency food assistance over the last year.
•
The average increase in demand across the network from summer 2008 to summer 2009 was
30%. However, the increase in need for services over the last year varies across the nation,
ranging from 5% in some areas to more than 150% in others.
• Food banks reporting increased demand of more than 50% include Asheville, North Carolina;
Fort Myers, Florida; Minneapolis; and food banks in South Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri and
Colorado.
• High unemployment across the nation – which reached 9.7% in August – is a critical factor in the
rising need for emergency food. Local economic circumstances, such as plant and business
closings, have a significant impact on rising need for emergency food. Ninety‐one percent (91%)
of food banks cite unemployment as a critical factor in the increasing need for emergency food
over the last year, and 79% identified underemployment as a major contributor.
•
In contrast, in a similar survey conducted in May 2008, only 43% of food banks cited rising
unemployment as a major factor in the need in their community. At that time