YOUR VOICE, YOUR VOTE: Food Insecurity

Many North Carolinians—including children, families, and older adults—face hunger and go without adequate and nutritious foods on a regular basis. North Carolina is the 9th most food-insecure state in the nation, but the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps reduce food hardship. It is the largest anti-hunger program in the nation and plays a critical role in ensuring that North Carolinians have enough food to eat. SNAP also significantly reduces poverty, improves children’s health outcomes, and helps minimize tough choices like either feeding your children or paying rent on time.

With the increase in the kind of jobs that don’t pay enough to afford the basics, it can be tough to put enough food on the table even when you have a steady job. In 2015, SNAP reached 1.6 million North Carolinians, targeting the most vulnerable folks to help ensure that older adults, veterans, and children get enough to eat each day. SNAP benefits help to stimulate the state’s economy too, pumping upward of $2 billion into the economy.