Some major food related charities claim that 1 in 7 Americans go to bed hungry every night. This claim is an easily provable falsehood – and why I no longer give donations to these organizations. Telling lies is not a long term successful strategy for fundraising.

They rely “on a survey that measured “Food insecurity” (not the same as hunger-see below), and leapt from 1 in 7 experienced “food insecurity” at least once in a year to the fictional claim that “1 in 7 people already go to bed hungry”. The assertion that 1 in 7 people go to bed hungry is false.”

Yet that claim became the focus of numerous media reports – and is often repeated each fall during their annual publicity drive/fund raising programs.

“Food insecurity” is a now popular term instead of “malnutrition” or “starvation” – because the latter mostly no longer exist in developed countries. Thus, “Food insecurity” – but it does not mean people are going to bed hungry.

1 in 7 Americans do not go to bed hungry every night – Social Panic (slightly updated)