Money needed to alleviate hunger reaches most in 20 years: EIF, Feeding America

Simmy Wood
·2 min read

URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — Feeding America’s annual Map the Meal Gap study revealed that the extra food budget needed for the hungry to be food secure has reached its highest point in two decades.

People who are facing hunger reported needing nearly $25 a week on average, resulting in the nation’s largest food budget shortfall of $33.1 billion. That amount is up nearly 43% from 2023. The average cost per meal across the country sits at $4, which is a 3% annual increase.

This continues an upward price trend since 2022 amid historically high food costs and the ending of several pandemic-era programs.

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Map the Meal Gap is the only study that estimates food insecurity and prices for every county and congressional district across the U.S. Here in Central Illinois, they found that 12% of Eastern Illinois Foodbank (EIF)’s 18-county service population faces hunger. Of those 134,000 people, more than 36,000 are children.

“The insights from this year’s study confirm what we hear each day from our neighbors facing hunger: elevated food prices are pushing their budgets to a breaking point,” said Kelly Daly, President and CEO of EIF. “This powerful tool helps us understand the impact of food insecurity and underlines that the importance of our community’s support in alleviating hunger in Eastern Illinois.”

Here are some of the food insecurity rates of Central Illinois counties within EIF’s service area:

  • Piatt – 9.8%

  • Moultrie – 10.9%

  • Douglas – 11%

  • Cumberland – 11.5%

  • DeWitt – 11.7%

  • Livingston – 12.2%

  • Champaign – 12.7%

  • Ford – 13%

  • Iroquois – 13%

  • Edgar – 13.4%

  • Vermilion – 14.3%

  • Coles – 16.1%

The Map the Meal Gap study also found that a staggering 9 out of 10 hungry counties throughout the U.S. are rural, and that nearly 50% of people who are food insecure are unqualified for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).To view more findings from past and present Map the Meal Gap studies, visit map.feedingamerica.org. To get help from or provide help to the Eastern Illinois Foodbank, visit eifoodbank.org.

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