Indicator 55: Food Insecurity

  

Why This Is Important

Not having enough food that is nutritious and can offer a balanced diet has both short and
long term negative consequences for individuals, families and their children. Certainly the negative
effect of poor nutrition is well understood, however for some in Maine there is a great deal of
worry and stress to just try to provide enough food. The level of food insecurity that exists in our communities is an indicator of how well we are meeting basic needs.

 

 

Where We Stand

*For 2005, data is being collected differently for this indicator. Before 2005, this question was
asked specifically to those with children in the household under the age of 18. Those results are
still presented in the chart below. In order to provide a more broad based measure that may tell
a story that calls attention to all parts of our communities, this year this question was added to a
bi-annual Tracking Survey © conducted by Critical Insights, a market research firm in Portland,
Maine. This survey targets a more broad population of adult residents in Maine.

For 2005, while nearly 8-in-10 Maine residents reported that they do not worry about running out
of food, 22% reported that this statement is either “sometimes” or “often” true for them. As with
housing issues, concerns over access to food also appear to cut across socio-economic lines, as
50% of the respondents with incomes less than $25,000 annually stated that they either
“sometimes” or “often” worry about running out of food.

 

Data Sources and Context

As mentioned above, for 2005 this indicator has a different data source. These respondents
are not exclusively households with children ages 18 and younger. This indicator was the results
of a purchased item (question) that was part of the Tracking Survey © conducted by Critical
Insights one of their bi-annual survey efforts in November 2005. This public opinion survey had
601 respondents with only 30% of all respondents having children ages 18 and younger in the
household.

Respondents were asked: “Please consider how often this statement is true for your household:
I worried whether my food would run out before I got money to buy more.”