Hunger Data & Reports

We will continually add to this list of data and reports that we regularly access:

Our partners at the California Center for Rural Policy (CCRP) at Humboldt State University publish reports and case studies, which are available online. Some of the ones we reference frequently include:

Humboldt County Community Food Assessment

Food Access & Pantry Services Survey 2015

Food Access & Pantry Services Survey 2018

On their website you'll also find a variety of case studies on individual Food for People programs, such as:

Food for People's Choice Food Pantries: The Power of Choice

Backpacks for Kids Programs

Our partners at Humboldt State University's (HSU) Oh SNAP! program provide an array of services to combat hunger and lack of access to healthy food amongst college students. Learn more about their innovative array of services, and read up on their research on the impacts of CalFresh/SNAP student rules and food insecurity amonsgst international students working on campus.

In addition, HSU's on-campus College Creek Marketplace now accepts EBT. Students, faculty, and staff can now purchase food including vegetables, fruits, canned food, freezer items, and more right on campus. Read more about it in the press release. This is a huge step for HSU, making it one of very few universities that accept EBT and have such a wide array of services to assist food-insecure college students, including a food pantry, CalFresh application assistance, cooking classes, seasonal on-campus farm stands, and a transportation shuttle to nearby farmers' markets that accept EBT. Graduate thesis research at HSU in 2015 found that up to 40 percent of students were cutting the size of meals or skipping them entirely because they didn’t have enough money for food.

Heather King, MSW and Jennifer McGuire, MSW, PhD together published a white paper titled "SNAP and the Federal Work Study Rule: Increase College College Student Success for Low-Income Students" (click to download). The report outlines recommendations that would allow students to qualify for SNAP based on work study eligibility, which is reserved for low-income students. Recommendations also include how to streamline the process of qualifying for SNAP based on students’ Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) reports.

Other local reports include:

The Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) Community Health Assessment 2013

Reports from around the state and nation:

Struggling to Get By: The Real Cost Measure in California 2015, by United Way of California, reports on the real cost of living in California's communities

ALICE Project (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed), by United Way of Northern New Jersey and Rutgers University, examines poverty amongst working households in California

Reports from the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities:

Reports from Food Research & Action Center:

Reports from California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA):

Lost Dollars, Empty Plates: The Impact of CalFresh Participation on State and Local Economies

2017 School's Out...Who ate?

Nutrition & Food Insecurity Profile (CA & county by county)

Other publications include:

PolicyLink and The Food Trust's Access to Healthy Food & Why it Matters

U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions' report Senior Hunger: The Human Toll & Budget Consequences

Center for American Progress' Hunger in America

National Geographic's The New Face of Hunger

Feeding America's Hunger in America 2014 national report

The U.S. Census Bureau's new report on Income & Poverty in the United States: 2013 (published September 2014)

Online resources include:

TalkPoverty.org