DATA AND RESOURCES

Data to Inform Anti-Hunger Efforts in States

The following table details selected resources that provide highly localized, user-friendly data, maps and reports on hunger, federal nutrition program participation, unemployoment and access to healthy food. Resources are categorized by the types of data they include and abbreviated here using the labels "Hunger" (food insecurity as definted by the United States Department of Agriculture), "SNAP" (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly the Food Stamp Program), "WIC" (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children), "CNP" (child nutrition programs, including meals served in schools and child care facilities), "EFP" (emergency food programs), "Work" (unemployoment) and "Food" (access to healthy, affordable food).

Title	Organization	Type	Data Year	Geography	Description	Hunger	SNAP	WIC	CNP	EFP	Work	Food
SNAP Average Monthly Participation	USDA Food and Nutrition Service	Data	2006-2010	Nation, state	Provides number of average monthly SNAP participants		x
WIC Program Total Participation	USDA Food and Nutrition Service	Data	2006-2010	Nation, state	Provides number of total WIC participants			x
Child Nutrition Tables	USDA Food and Nutrition Service	Data	2006-2010	Nation, state	Provides number of all participants for several child nutrition programs				x
Food Distribution Program Tables	USDA Food and Nutrition Service	Data	2006-2010	Nation, state	Provides number of all participants and food costs for all participants in several food distribution programs					x
Food Desert Locator	USDA Food and Nutrition Service	Map, Data	2000, 2006	Nation, state, address	Shows census blocks that are low-income neighborhoods with low access to a supermarket							x
Household Food Insecurity in the United States	USDA Economic Research Service	Report	2009	Nation, state	Provides data on food insecurity among all households with data on household characteristics, use of nutrition programs, and household food expenditures	x	x	x	x

Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization for States	USDOL Bureau of Labor Statistics	Data	2010	Nation, state	Provides annual averages for U-1 through U-6 measures of state un- and under-employment						x
National and State Program Data	Food Research and Action Center	Data	2005-2009	Nation, state	Provides state fact sheets on population, poverty, food insecurity, federal nutrition program participation, and state economic policies	x	x	x	x	x
Food Hardship in America	Food Research and Action Center	Report	2010	Nation, state, Congressional District, 100 largest metropolitan areas	Provides data on food hardship among all households	x
Hunger in America	Feeding America	Report Data	2009	Nation, state, food bank service area	Provides data on emergency food recipients, with data on household characteristics, food insecurity, and use of nutrition programs	x	x	x	x	x	x
Map the Meal Gap	Feeding America	Map	2009	Nation, state, county, food bank service area	Shows number and percentage of all food insecure households by income band, with data on food cost index and funding needed to eliminate food insecurity	x	x	x	x	x
Food Stamp Usage Across the County	New York Times	Map	2009	County	Shows SNAP use among all households, with data on race and age		x
Low Access Areas as of 2010	The Reinvestment Fund[1]	Map	2010	State, county, city, ZIP, Congressional District, state district	Shows areas of low grocery access; can be mapped against layers showing population, income, transportation options, etc.							x

[1] The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) finances large-scale neighborhood revitalization projects in the Mid-Atlantic region. Pennsylvania’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative, a widely recognized best practice partnership in increasing supermarket access in urban areas, is one of TRF’s many community investment projects.

This resource compiled April 2011 by Marie Lawrence, NCSL State-Federal Relations.