Definition: The percentage of individuals in Sarasota County living in households that experienced food insecurity at some point during the year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food insecurity as limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods or uncertain ability to acquire these foods in socially acceptable ways. Food Insecurity is determined by responses to an annually administered national food security survey conducted by the Census Bureau.

Source: Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap

2025 Target: 12.69%

Below is a comparison of the value for this indicator among seven coastal counties: Charlotte, Sarasota, Collier, Lee, Manatee, Hillsborough, and Pinellas. These counties have been recommended as comparable counties by Sarasota County Government.

Food Insecurity (2015)

In 2015, 13.6% of individuals in Sarasota County were food insecure. Sarasota County had a lower food insecurity rate than Florida (15.1%) but slightly higher than the United States (13.4%) in 2015. Food insecurity affects children more than the general population. In Sarasota County, approximately 21% of children experience food insecurity. The percentage of households enrolled in the SNAP program has more than tripled from 3% in 2005 to 9.4% in 2013. The percentage of students that receive free and reduced lunch has also increased significantly from 41% in 2009 to 50% in 2015. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), ten low-income census tracts in Sarasota County qualify as food deserts.

Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger relief organization, recently released a study that surveyed 92,000 people that received food assistance nationwide. According to the report, major barriers to food security include sustained unemployment, underemployment, poor health, and poverty. According to subject matter experts, the majority of families in Sarasota County that seek food assistance are not necessarily living in poverty, but are employed and unable to afford basic living expenses. These are people categorized by a 2015 United Way report as ALICE, or asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed. According to the ALICE Report, 30% of households in Sarasota County are ALICE households. Food insecurity also has major economic implications. Over $100 billion in federal dollars in 2012 were spent on food and nutrition programs. A 2009 report by Chilton and Rose also estimates that $90 billion was spent in “increased medical costs, loss in educational attainment and worker productivity, and investment burden into the emergency food system”.