A new survey shines the light on hunger in our community and tells us more about people who rely on emergency assistance to put food on their table.
The Hunger in America 2014 report included input from almost 600 clients of Foodlink, the agency serving 10 counties throughout the Rochester region.
Co-executive director Jeanette Batiste says half of households reported having to choose between paying for food or paying for medicine at least once in the previous 12 months.
Fifty-six percent of Foodlink's partner agencies reported an increase in their volume of clients compared to the year before.
"Even though the recession hit, now almost five years ago, there's like this slow transition as our community adjusts to that and people get back on their feet,” Batiste said. “And it depends on which county. Some of our counties have continued to see companies leave and job losses."
Batiste said another statistic provides an example of the widespread nature of hunger in the Rochester area. Eighteen percent of Foodlink's client households had a member who had served in the military.
"Fifty percent of the households that relied on emergency food had to choose between paying for food or paying for medical expenses, “Batiste said, “And that's a tough choice to make. Twenty-one percent of households exhausted their monthly SNAP (food stamp) benefits after two weeks into the month. Which means that the SNAP benefits exhausted, and they had to turn to emergency food system to put enough food on their table for their families."
Seventy-two percent of those who took part in the survey said that they had bought inexpensive, unhealthy food as a coping strategy just to get enough calories.
