Definition: The percentage of children (under 18 years of age) 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: 23.5%

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.

Child Food Insecurity (2015)

In 2015, 21.3% of children in Sarasota County were food insecure, meaning that they had limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods or uncertain ability to acquire these foods in socially acceptable ways. Child food insecurity in Sarasota County has decreased by 15% from the 2013 figure. In the United States as a whole, 17.9% of children were food insecure in 2015. The food insecurity rate in the county is 1.4% lower than the average for the state (22.7%). According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), ten low-income census tracts in Sarasota County qualify as food deserts.

According to a survey of 1,900 elementary, middle school, and high school students in Title 1 schools in Sarasota County, conducted by All Faith’s Food Bank, the most common issues regarding food insecurity are: meals including cheap unhealthy foods because of lack of resources, children worrying that their family would run out of food before their family would have money to buy more, and children running out of food or eating less because their family had no money to buy more.

The study found that there were slight racial differences. Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino students scored higher on the Child Food Insecurity Survey Module when it came to eating cheap foods, worrying that food would run out, and food actually running out due to lack of financial resources. The most notable differences were between grade levels. Food Insecurity affects elementary and high school students more so than middle school students. There were also notable differences between schools. Atwater, Wilkinson, and Alta Vista elementary schools rated the highest on the "hunger scale" out of all the Title 1 schools surveyed, meaning that their students are the most food insecure. Chronic worrying about food security has many negative consequences including mental health problems and difficulty concentrating in school.