The Hunger Gap

Lesson 14
The Hunger Gap

© 2016 Johns Hopkins University

Food Security Definition

Consistent access to enough safe,
nutritious food for an active, healthy life,
without resorting to emergency food
programs, scavenging, or stealing.

Source: Andrews M, Nord M, Bickel G, Carlson S. Household food security in the United States,
1999. USDA ERS. 2000.

Photo credit: Michael Milli, CLF.

Household Food Security

Members of food-insecure households may:

▪
Be forced to skip meals

▪
Be unable to afford balanced meals

▪
Worry their food will run out before they
can afford to buy more

▪
Eat less than they feel they should because
they lacked money to buy more

▪
Lose weight because there wasn’t enough
money for food

Source: Coleman-Jensen A, Nord M, Andrews M, Carlson S. Household Food Security in the
United States in 2010. USDA ERS. 2011.

Photo credit: Michael Milli, CLF.

Household Food Security

Almost one in seven U.S. households —
over 17 million — suffer from food
insecurity.

Source: Coleman-Jensen A, Gregory C, Singh A. Household Food Security in the United States in
2013. USDA ERS. 2014.

Photo credit: Michael Milli, CLF.

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future. The Maryland Food System Mapping Resource.
2012: Documentation. http://www.jhsph.edu/clf/programs/food_mapping/documentation/

Photo credit: Spence Lean. Pigtown: All Things Baltimore, 2009.
www.sustainablecitiescollective.com. Used with permission.

Food Deserts

Areas with limited access to healthy food,
often defined using these four criteria:

▪
Household income

▪
Distance from a supermarket

▪
Vehicle ownership

▪
Availability of healthy food in local
stores

Community Food
Availability Map:
Clifton Park

▪
Median household income: $25,737

▪
Percent of households with no vehicles
available: 44.2%

Image credit: Maryland Food System Map. Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.
http://mdfoodsystemmap.org/

Data source: Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance. Jacob France Institute.
http://bniajfi.org/

Community Food
Availability Map:
Southwest Baltimore

▪
Median household income: $24,946

▪
Percent of households with no vehicles
available: 52.8%

Image credit: Maryland Food System Map. Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.
http://mdfoodsystemmap.org/

Data source: Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance. Jacob France Institute.
http://bniajfi.org/

Community Food
Availability Map:
Roland Park

▪
Median household income: $104,481

▪
Percent of households with no vehicles
available: 4.4%

Image credit: Maryland Food System Map. Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.
http://mdfoodsystemmap.org/

Data source: Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance. Jacob France Institute.
http://bniajfi.org/

Source: President’s Task Force on Food Assistance. Report of the President’s Task Force on Food Assistance. Washington, DC; 1984.
Photo credit: Michael Milli, CLF.

“To many people, hunger means
not just symptoms that can be

diagnosed by a physician; it

bespeaks the existence of a social,

not a medical problem.”