An annual report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service shows household food insecurity – meaning a lack of access to enough food for a healthy life – ticked down in 2013, but a number of troubling trends continue.

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For one, food insecurity – while down from the 2011 high of 14.9 percent – is not yet down to its pre-Recession levels (11.1 percent in 2007), despite the fact that other measures like gross domestic product and employment have shown signs that the economy is nearing recovery. The prevalence of households with very low food security – defined as those where normal eating patterns are disrupted due to lack of money and other resources for food – is particularly persistent. After a slight dip in 2010, the percentage has hovered (5.6 percent in 2013) near its 2008 levels (5.7 percent).



Courtesy of the USDA

The report shows that some groups remain especially vulnerable to food insecurity. Minority households, very poor households, households headed by single moms and households in the principal cities of metropolitan areas and in the South saw rates of very low food security that were higher than the national average. Meanwhile, as the prevalence of food insecurity dropped significantly among white households from 2012 to 2013, it remained essentially unchanged in black and Hispanic households.



Courtesy of the USDA

Food security also varies by state, with the upper Midwest exhibiting some of the lowest levels of food insecurity and pockets of the South showing some of the highest (the numbers are compiled from 2011-2013 to make the data more reliable).



Courtesy of the USDA