Why it Matters
1 in 5 children under the age of 18 years old goes to bed hungry every night in the Greater Omaha area.
1 in 6 adults in Nebraska reported not having enough money to buy food.
In Nebraska, 96,700 children or 1 in 5 aren’t sure where their next meal is coming from.
20% of Nebraska’s children are at-risk for hunger.
Food comprises 17% of Nebraska’s municipal waste stream; making it the third largest contributor to landfill waste in the state and first in Omaha.
While food waste can be recovered, it’s expensive and requires vehicles that are exclusively utilized for food waste collection.
Efforts to reduce food waste happen in our homes and community and can be healthy, economical, and environmentally friendly.
A family of four wastes nearly $600 a year throwing out food
Of all lower income children living in Nebraska, over 44% aged 2-5 are either overweight or obese; over 47% of those aged 10-17 are either overweight or obese. Regular access to healthy, nutritious meals can make a difference for these children.
The presence of “food deserts” within low income and rural areas make it difficult for those without personal transportation to access the wide variety of affordable, nutritious foods.
Nebraska is ranked #1 in commercial red meat production; #2 in the total value of its cattle; #3 in corn for grain production; #37 in summer meal participation and #46 in school breakfast participation.
In Nebraska, only 38% of those eligible for free/reduced lunch are eating school breakfast and only 10.6% are utilizing the USDA summer meals program.
40,000 children die every day worldwide due to starvation and hunger-related diseases.
17 million children in the United States come from food insecure households.
More than 16 million children in America struggle with hunger; less than half of all eligible children receive a free or reduced price school breakfast.
Eligibility for SNAP (Food Stamps) benefits requires that the applicant work 30 hours per week or have an exemption from work activity.
According to a USDA report, 19% of Nebraska SNAP recipients were children under the age of five; 31% were children between five and seventeen; 7% were over sixty. Ninety five percent of all program recipients in Nebraska were US born citizens.
According to the Organization for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD), the percentage of children living in poverty within the United States, arguably among the richest countries in the world, is 22% – lower only than Turkey, Chili and Mexico. Of the 34 member countries within the OECD, the United States ranked 31st in caring for its most vulnerable citizens.