Cost of US hunger estimated at $167 billion

Posted by on October 31, 2011

Cost of US hunger estimated at $167 billion

The cost of hunger in the US, the world’s largest economy, was $167.5 billion last year as the recession in 2008 and a slow economic recovery pushed more American households into food insecurity, researchers announced last week.

The number of food-insecure and hungry Americans in 2010 rose 30 percent from 2007, Brandeis University said, citing a study led by university professor Donald Shepard.

Hunger’s cost to society includes lost productivity, poor education, additional healthcare costs and charity donations to keep families fed, the researchers said. A 2007 report by Shepard estimated the US hunger bill in 2005 at $90 billion, the university said.

The number of hungry and food-insecure Americans in 2010 increased to 48.8 million, up by 12 million from 2007, according to the report.

“This increase in food insecurity and America’s hunger bill over these three years demonstrates the breadth of suffering associated with this recession,” Shepard said in the statement. “All Americans bear a part of these costs.”

The number of hungry and food-insecure Americans in 2010 increased to 48.8 million, up by 12 million from 2007, according to the report.

Hungry Americans are ill more often than others, resulting in estimated additional health care costs of $130.5 billion in 2010, according to the study. Poor education outcomes due to hunger cost society $19.2 billion, while private donations of food money and volunteer time to meet emergency food needs amounted to $17.8 billion, the researchers said.

http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2011/october/hunger.html