Statistics

• Each month there are tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders seeking food assistance through the Food Bank's network of more than 300 member agencies.
• A new USDA report on food insecurity shows that hunger in Rhode Island has grown from affecting 1 out of 10 households in 1998 to affecting 1 out of 8 households today.
• The Rhode Island Community Food Bank continues to see an increase in the number of working poor accessing food pantries for assistance. In Rhode Island, almost one-third (32%) of the households served by the Food Bank network had one or more adults working. This is up from 29% in 2001 and 25% in 1997.
• In Rhode Island, 49% of pantry recipients choose between paying for food and paying for utilities. Additionally, 46% must choose between food and rent or mortgage while 34% choose between food and medicine or medical care.
• 1 out of every 3 people served is a child under the age of 18.
• In Rhode Island, 57% of adults interviewed at emergency feeding sites stated that their health was “fair” or “poor” compared with 46% nationally.
• Only 36% of the client households served through the Food Bank’s network of member agencies receives Food Stamps. This is down from 46% in 2001 and 49% in 1997.
• If Rhode Island's food stamp participation grew at the same rate as the national average, this would amount to over $30-million for the local economy on an annual basis.
• In Rhode Island, 72% of pantry clients rent their homes. Of these renters, only 28.5% receive Section 8 or public housing assistance.
• 56% of all households served by the Food Bank’s network live below the Federal Poverty Level or less than $16,600 a year for a family of three.
• According to the most recent U.S. Census survey, there are over 35,000 children living in poverty in Rhode Island.  This is roughly 15% of all Rhode Island children. 
• Just under 15,000 Rhode Island seniors, 10.6% of the state’s population, live in poverty.