The 150-page report breaks down data from the United States Department of Agriculture on hunger across the Show-Me state.  Every year the USDA releases a report outlining the nutritional needs of residents across the country. Professors Matt Foulkes, Joan Hermsen, Nikki Raedeke, and Sandy Rikoon from the Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security at MU then compiled all of the data for Missouri and broke it down by county.

The survey maps the relationship between four key factors. The professors ranked each county from one to 115, based on the percent of eligible residents who received food stamps, the percent of eligible students who receive free or reduced lunches, the percent of eligible families for Special Supplemental Nutrition Programs, and finally the pounds of food bank food distributed per capita.

 

The number of residents in need of nutritional support through the three programs mentioned were then compared to the pounds of food donated to map the need versus performance across the state. The result clearly grouped the state into several categories. Counties in eastern Missouri such as St. Louis, St. Charles, and Jefferson County all had both low need and low performance, or the amount of food donated. Counties in northern and mid-Missouri were a mix of middle need and performance, and low need low performance. Counties around the boot-heel were both high need and high performance, while several counties in southwest Missouri were high need and low performance.

Researchers hope the maps will allow Missourians to better understand the extent and depth of hunger across the state.  

To see the atlas in it's entirety, click on the link called Hunger Atlas in the related links window above.  Also, be sure to watch Lauren Reid's report on what one local organization is doing to combat hunger. Click on the video window to see the story.