Photo: AJ_Watt / E+ / Getty Images
(Iowa) -- Food insecurity is on the rise across the state of Iowa.
"All 99 counties saw an increase in food insecurity, unfortunately. That's every community, every county in this state. And really, food insecurity affects every single county and community across the country," said Annette Hacker with the Food Bank of Iowa.
Twelve percent of Iowans and about 16.6 percent of Iowa children are facing food insecurity, which means 1 in 6 kids. According to the annual Feeding America Map the Meal Gap study, the annual meal gap in Iowa is around 73 million meals.
"Statewide, 385,130 people don't know where they will find their next meal, and among them, more than 120,000 are children," said Hacker.
Iowa counties facing the highest levels of food insecurity are Appanoose County and Wapello County, with between 15 to 17 percent of the population being food insecure. However, the child food insecurity rate is over 20 percent in 11 Iowa counties.