UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls
USDA defines food secure households as those who have "access, at all times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members." During the recent recession the USDA reported a 31% increase in the proportion of "food insecure" US households in the one-year period between 2008 and 2009. Household food insecurity rates at the national level have declined to 12.7% in 2015 from 14.9% in 2011. The current rate is still above the pre-recession level of 11.1% in 2007.
USDA also documents an increase in SNAP (food stamps), growing from about 26
million in 2006 to more than 44 million in 2016, an increase of 73%. Despite the economic recovery that has been
underway for at least 5 years, SNAP demand has remained at historically high
levels. This reflects the fact that wage
rates and underemployment have only started to improve in late 2016.
It is not surprising that the incidence of food insecurity in these relatively
prosperous states is lower than for the U.S. as a whole. Similarly, the
relative prosperity of the counties in St. Croix River valley means that fewer
of their households are food insecure than is the case for their respective
states. Despite this, a survey done by for the Western Wisconsin
Community Action Agency in 2016 found that among families in poverty in western
Wisconsin: