An estimated 728-thousand Missouri residents received help from emergency food banks last year. That’s one of the key findings of a recently released survey by Feeding America and the Missouri Food Bank Association. The study finds that about 139-thousand people are receiving food aid in any given week. And children younger than 18 comprise about 39% of the members of households receiving aid. The Missouri figures are based on written questionnaires and in-person interviews with food aid recipients as part of a national survey. Missouri Food Bank Association Director Scott Baker says it shows that hunger is an increasingly persistent problem in Missouri.
