Food insecurity is the term for when someone does not have consistent access to enough nutritious food to live their lives. It’s something Feeding America tracks in its annual Map the Meal Gap study.
"In southwest Virginia, much like across the country, food insecurity still exists in every single county and city that Feeding America Southwest Virginia serves. So, that's all of southwest Virginia. It's about 35 localities total," says Amanda Allen with Feeding America Southwest Virginia.
10 communities saw their food insecurity rate increase since the last study. The cities of Danville, Martinsville and Radford had the highest rates in the region.
In addition, the study found that the rate among children is higher in southwest Virginia than that of the overall population.
"People still need help. Your neighbors still need help. Their children still need help. So, as much as economic recovery is good, people still need help," says Allen.
2019 marks the ninth consecutive year Feeding America has conducted the Map the Meal Gap study.
You can find the full report here.
