SitemapFor anyone who fails to see the direct connection between an anemic economy and surging food hardship and hunger in the Mahoning Valley, a pair of credible national reports provides more than ample enlightenment.
Last month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area ranked first in the nation in the scope of total job losses in 2017. Then just last week, the Food Research & Action Center, a national anti-hunger advocacy group, reported that this region ranks second highest among U.S. metro areas in its degree of food hardship, food deserts and hunger. Taken together, the reports stand as a clarion call for continued aggressive efforts on local, state and federal plains to stimulate economic revitalization for the long term and to meet the crisis needs of tens of thousands of individuals and families in our region for the short term. The report, conducted in association with the Gallup polling organization, paints a gloomy portrait of the scope of food hardship in America at a time when in some parts of the nation, the economy sizzles. FRAC defines food hardship as the inability to purchase needed food for individuals and family members at some point over the past 12 months. Its survey results of hundreds of thousands of interviews showed that for the first time in four years, the national rate of food hardship increased from 15.1 percent in 2016 to 15.7 percent in 2017. To read the full story from The Vindicator, click here.