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The prevalence of food insecurity in Louisiana has grown significantly since the Great Recession, indicating that more individuals and families – especially those with children younger than 18 – are lacking enough money to purchase food at some point in the year.

According to a release on food security from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly one in six households in Louisiana struggle against hunger. Louisiana’s level of food insecurity is greater than the national level – 15.7 percent versus 14.7 percent – and the increase in food insecurity has grown more quickly in Louisiana than at the national level since the start of the Great Recession. The number of Louisiana households that spend a portion of the year without adequate means to buy food has grown by 5.7 percent between 2007-09 and 2010-12, while the national rate has grown by only 1.2 percent.