The Faces of Hunger

In our community and around the world, hunger is the most extreme form of poverty, where individuals or families cannot afford to meet their most basic need for food. In 2005, 35.1 million Americans lived with food insecurity—22.7 million adults and 12.4 million children. Here in Santa Cruz County, the number of adults who reported going for an entire day without food for lack of money has tripled since 2001. These people are neighbors, family, and friends—and sometimes those you’d least expect.