KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — Food insecurity is a complicated issue that often involves other factors like unemployment, poverty, housing and healthcare. It is still a major issue many families in East Tennessee face.
Feeding America, a hunger-relief organization, reported that Knox County's food insecurity rate for 2018 was 11.7%. They said that there were around 53,150 people in Knox County who did not have reliable access to food.
They also said that a meal costs around $3.30 in Knox County and that they would need $29,691,000 additional funds to meet food needs in the area.
Across East Tennessee, the food insecurity rate was 13.1% according to the Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee.
Officials said that around 950,290 people were food-insecure in the state and that meals cost an average of $3.03 in Tennessee. Feeding America said that meeting food needs in the state would require an additional $486,768,000.
