INTERACTIVE: See where children are more likely to go hungry in Kentucky

(WSAZ)
Published: May. 1, 2019 at 8:14 PM EDT
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Feeding America released the latest report on food insecurity and the cost of food Wednesday morning.

The report, called

Map the Meal Gap 2019

, shows that food insecurity exists in every Kentucky county. According to the study, 18 percent of Kentucky children face food insecurity compared to 15 percent of the state's overall population.

Kentucky's rates are higher than the national rate of 17 percent of children facing food insecurity and 13 percent of the overall American population.

“While we are pleased that the overall and child food insecurity rates decreased slightly from the Map the Meal Gap 2018 report, over 660,000 people still facing food insecurity in Kentucky is unacceptable,” said Feeding Kentucky Executive Director Tamara Sandberg. “Making matters worse is that many of these individuals do not qualify for federal nutrition assistance programs. They have nowhere else to turn but the charitable food sector, which continues to struggle to keep pace with the need for food assistance. We call on partners in government, business, education, agricultural and faith-based sectors to continue working to close the meal gap and end hunger in Kentucky.”

The interactive chart below has a county-by-county breakdown of how many children face food insecurity. (If you are viewing on a mobile device, click the link to see additional content.)