Hunger in rural America: Myth or reality? A reexamination of the Harvard physician task force report on hunger in America using statistical data and field observations

Abstract

Several studies, most notably those from the Harvard Physician Task Force on Hunger in America, have described areas of the United States as having serious hunger problems. These studies have relied solely on statistical approaches, devising a “hunger index” from poverty figures and food‐stamp participation data. A thorough reexamination of the Harvard report reveals that this study is invalid because it appears that the hunger index actually measures economic “dependence” rather than hunger and malnutrition. By using a variety of factors that measure economic well‐being, the present analysis concludes that the Harvard study was invalid because of serious flaws in the index. As a further check on the data, the author conducted field observations in a number of the “hunger” counties and was unable to discover any problems of hunger or malnutrition.