Featured Article Map the Meal Gap: Exploring Food Insecurity at the Local Level

The burgeoning food insecurity literature in the United States has pro- vided a portrait of the causes and consequences of food insecurity. One underex- plored aspect is the spatial diversity in food insecurity across the United States. In response, Feeding America has been releasing annual county-level food insecurity estimates since 2010. In this article, we describe the methods underlying these esti- mates, followed by answers to the following: What are the state-level determinants of food insecurity? What is the distribution of food insecurity across counties in the United States? How do the county-level food insecurity estimates generated in Map the Meal Gap compare with other sources? Food insecurity is a serious challenge facing millions of Americans. In 2012, 49 million persons in the United States lived in households classified as food insecure (Coleman-Jensen, Nord, and Singh 2013). These rates have soared to unprecedented levels, having increased by more than one-third since 2007. The prevalence of food insecurity is of great concern to policy- makers and program administrators, a concern heightened by its many demonstrated negative health consequences. (See Gundersen, Kreider, and Pepper 2011for a list of relevant studies.) The alleviation of food insecurity is the central goal of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the largest food assistance program in the United States. Along with SNAP, food assistance is provided through Feeding America's network of member food banks and other federal programs. Due in large part to food insecurity's status as one of the most important and high-profile nutrition-related public health issues in the United States today, a vast body of literature has emerged on the topic. (For a recent review, see Gundersen 2013.)