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HUNGER MESSAGE PROJECT POLL: July 2008 One in four Americans fear hunger as food prices soar Sixty-five percent of American voters say that rising food prices have had an impact on them, including a startling 28 percent who are worried that they or someone they know will go hungry. According to a new poll by the Alliance to End Hunger, another 37 percent of voters said they have cut back on the amount of food they buy.
Max Finberg, director of the Alliance, stated, “The increasing cost of food does not just mean higher grocery bills; it means more hungry people. We are seeing a substantial increase in requests for assistance to prevent people and their families from going hungry. Our public and private safety nets are being stretched to the limit by the growing demand.” Almost seven out of 10 American voters (sixty-nine percent) say that the federal government is spending too little to reduce hunger in the U.S., up from 55 percent in 2002. Previous polling from the Alliance’s Hunger Message Project has shown that the number of voters who believe that the problem of hunger in the U.S. is getting worse has increased by 25 percent in the last five years.
American voters are equally concerned about world hunger. Two-thirds of voters (sixty-eight percent) believe the U.S. government should do more to respond to the global hunger crisis, including 2 out of 5 (39 percent) who want the U.S. to invest substantially more in long-term solutions like providing aid to help farmers in hungry countries produce more food. Agricultural development and nutrition programs are essential to feed the 860 million people who are chronically hungry and the additional 100 million who have joined the ranks of the hungry during the current crisis.
Reducing hunger at home and abroad is a major issue for voters in the 2008 election. High food prices tied with the war in Iraq on a list of issues that voters would like to hear more about solving from candidates for political office. Rising fuel prices, one of the leading causes of the escalating cost of food, topped the list.
The Hunger Message Project polls have found that 61 percent of voters would be more likely to support a candidate for President who made fighting hunger a top priority. An overwhelming 88 percent said that a candidate’s position on reducing hunger is important when deciding their vote for Congress.
“The findings of the poll are clear – American voters want our leaders to take action now, before the hunger crisis gets any worse. If they don’t, voters will hold them accountable in November,“ stated Finberg. The Alliance to End Hunger poll was conducted by McLaughlin and Associates on June 26-29, 2008. A random national sample of 1,000 voters was done by phone with a 3.1 percent margin of error.
EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY: One in four Americans fear hunger as food prices soar, by Max Finberg and Ann Steensland — Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, July 22, 2008
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