HUNGER COSTS BILLIONS

Hunger cost America at least $167.5 billion in 2010 due to the combination of lost economic productivity, more expensive public education because of the rising costs of poor education outcomes, avoidable health care costs, and the cost of charity to keep families fed. This $167.5 billion does not include the cost of SNAP and the other key federal nutrition programs, which run at about $94 billion a year. Hunger cost every U.S. citizen $542 in 2010, while the household hunger bill came to at least $1,410. The report’s authors estimate that Connecticut’s 2010 hunger bill came to $1.6 billion. 

Source: Center for American Progress, 10/5/14, Cost of Hunger