Hunger in America: Food insecurity disproportionately affects African-Americans

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“90 percent of the people we serve are not homeless,” he says, explaining that there is a greater number of people using food banks who are working and are dependent on food banks.

These are individuals who have lost their jobs and don’t have the necessary expendable income to purchase foods to live a healthy, active lifestyle.

In many cases, the children in these families depend on school meals for nourishment.

“There are children who look forward to a snow day for a day off from school and then there are some children who are sad because that snow day means they can’t eat,” Mayhue-Greer says.

Research shows that nearly 32 percent of African-American children live in food insecure households compared to 16 percent of white children. On a broader scale, additional data shows that children are at risk of hunger in every state and every county in the United States.

Meanwhile, 23 percent of the families enrolled in SNAP are African-American, versus 37 percent who are white.

But because of African-Americans’ smaller population share, that means more black than white families rely on food assistance. And a 2009 report by the Archives of Pediatric and adolescent Medicine estimated that more than half of all American children will receive SNAP benefits at some point before age 20, but among African-American children, that figure rose to 90 percent.

“It’s important to know that in a lot of households there are children and these are children who, during the summertime, have parents who don’t really know how to feed them because they have to make tough choices between paying rent, utilities and buying food,” Mayhue-Greer adds.

A mission to eliminate ‘food deserts’

Although data shows a continual rise in the number of those who are food insecure, Fraser says that it is not only important to help make food more available to those in need but to also ensure that the food given provides the proper health and nutrition.

“We’re trying to change the conversation from getting food to hungry people to getting meals,” he says.

These are meals and food items where the salt content and nutritional values are monitored and distributed, he says – making sure that the risk for things like childhood obesity, strokes and diabetes are considered.

“Hunger is a health issue because we see it every day within our community, diabetes and high blood pressure are big factors and it’s something we have to address primarily in the African-American community,” Mayhue-Greer says.

There are over 200 food banks and food service programs associated with Feeding America, all of whom share the mission of eliminating food deserts in both rural and urban areas and providing healthy and sustainable food to those in need.

While the data shows that African-Americans are at high risk of becoming food insecure, Fraser says the organization — and those like it –  are doing all they can to provide the necessary aid by sparking national awareness and advocating for government programs that provide these resources.

“I have traveled to over 100 countries to meet and understand the needs of hungry people, and I have spent the last decade tackling global food insecurity. But until recently, I had always believed the United States’ social safety net meant hunger did not exist in this country, ” says Howard Buffett, president of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

“It took a number of eye-opening visits to local food banks and many conversations with people struggling to find their next meal to understand that hunger in America is a very real problem.”

This report was produced as part of a collaboration with InPlainSight.nbcnews.com, TheGrio.com, NBCLatino.com, msnbc.com, and NBC’s owned television stations

Follow Lilly Workneh @Lilly_Works