COLUMBUS – Struggling Ohioans are starting to see small improvements in their ability to put food on the table but new data from the federal government indicates the state still has a higher hunger rate than the nation as a whole.
The rate of food insecurity in Ohio fell slightly in 2016 to 14.8 percent from 16 percent in 2011, according to the USDA Economic Research Service.
While an improvement that is still higher than the national food insecurity rate of about 12 percent, says Lisa Hamler-Fugitt with the Ohio Association of Foodbanks.
“In this great nation and certainly in this great state, it’s unacceptable that we have one in six of our friends and neighbors that suffer the grim reality of not having enough money or resources to feed themselves and their families,” she said.
The research comes as Ohio observes Hunger Action Month.
Hamler-Fugitt says the progress on hunger highlights how the country’s safety net, including programs like the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, works to help families. She hopes Congress pauses as it considers the President Donald Trump’s fast-track attempts to undercut assistance programs.
President Trump’s budget proposal would cut SNAP by $193 billion dollars over a decade, which could cost Ohio more than $4 billion dollars.
A recent report from Policy Matters Ohio found 10 percent of all Ohio workers participate in SNAP, and that every dollar spent on SNAP generates $1.70 in local economic activity.