HARRISBURG, Pa. - Food insecurity is the lack of regular, reliable access to nutritious food, and it’s a problem in both cities and rural areas.
Just over 16% of Philadelphia households faced food insecurity in 2018, the highest such rate in Pennsylvania.
Public data show rural Forest, Fayette and McKean counties have rates between 13% and 15%.
Fayette County Food Bank Project Manager David Bork said the approach to helping people differs from area to area.
“When you’re in a rural county like this, your options are little more limited because of the travel time to get to the resources,” Bork said.
Health department acting physician general Dr. Denise Johnson recently said the newly public data aims to show where people face challenges and provide needed help...
“These are factors over which a person has very little control, but they can play a critical role in determining their health and their health outcomes,” Johnson said.
The data is available on the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services website.