According to estimates from Feeding America, more than 490,000 Connecticut residents struggle with hunger; more than 131,000 children are food insecure. These are people from all walks of life – children, working parents, seniors, or people living with disabilities. They are your neighbors.
We work through a network of community-based programs, such as soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters to provide nutritious food to people in need, but we know we need to do more.
Last year, Connecticut Food Bank | Foodshare distributed enough food to prepare nearly 47 million meals to people in need in Connecticut.
What can you do? Every little bit helps. Five cans of food, $5, or five hours of your time can make a difference in the life of someone who doesn’t have enough to eat every day.
Even in a state as wealthy as Connecticut, there is need for food assistance in every community. Sometimes the difference between a family that uses a food program and one that doesn’t is the sudden loss of a job, an illness or unexpected rise in health care or utilities expenses.
The Feeding America Hunger In America 2014 study surveyed food pantry and soup kitchen clients in our six-county service area and revealed that in the previous 12 months:
Learn more about the Map the Meal Gap study that provides a detailed look at the food budget needed by families in Connecticut who struggle with hunger.
Below is a map that illustrates overall food insecurity and other community data in Connecticut by town. The darker the shading, the higher the food insecurity rate in that community. Click on the city or town for which you want to review data. This data is provided by Feeding America from its Map the Meal Gap study and reflects data for 2019.
