Study: 14% of RI families short of food

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Almost 14 percent of Rhode Island families struggled to put enough food on the table at some point in the last three years, according to a new federal report.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said an average of 58,000 Rhode Island households suffered from "food insecurity" between 2007 and 2009, meaning they did not have "access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life."

A total of 148,529 Rhode Islanders were signed up for food stamps in August, nearly one in seven residents and more than double the number in January 2007. The state's unemployment rate soared from 4.9 percent to 11.8 percent during that time.

• In-Depth: One in 7 now gets food stamps in RI

Rhode Island's food insecurity rate averaged 13.7 percent during 2007-09, up from 11.3 percent during 2004-06 and 10.2 percent in 1996-98. The rate in Massachusetts was 10 percent and in Connecticut it was 11.4 percent.

"Quite simply, these families do not have enough to eat, and are unable to afford adequate food as the recession continues, particularly for low-income households," said Michael Cerio, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, which distributes food through a network of 250 programs statewide.

There was also a spike in the number of Rhode Island families with "very low food security," which the government defines as households in which "normal eating patterns were disrupted because the household lacked money and other resources for food."

The report found 5.4 percent of local households – about 22,900 – suffered from very low food security during 2007-09, up from 3.7 percent in 2004-06 and 2.2 percent in 1996-98.

These trends have resulted in "more people seeking help at food pantries and other emergency food programs, many for the first time," Cerio said. "Each month, the Food Bank’s network is helping more than 55,000 people put food on the table."

Nationwide, the report said nearly 17 million American households had trouble securing enough to eat in 2009 – roughly the same as the prior year – and the problem was severe for almost 5.6 million of them.

tnesi@wpri.com