Fifteen percent of Rockford residents don’t know where their next meal is coming from, study says

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Over the last 11 months, a Food Insecurity Task Force has been studying hunger in the Forest City.

The task force, convened by the Northern Illinois Center for Nonprofit Excellence, focused on eight neighborhoods and discovered the barriers residents can face, including transportation, knowledge of resources, types of food available, and overall poverty.

On Thursday, the groups that formed the task force met at Riverfront Museum Park, 711 N. Main Street, to discuss the data and come up with possible solutions.

Those include the Northern Illinois Food Bank, UIC College of Medicine, and Gorman & Company, among others.

“Hunger affects all ages. It’s the youngest to the oldest in our communities and it’s emotional, there’s definitely a cognitive, as well as a physical challenge when you’re food insecure and we hope we can address that today,” said Kim Adams-Bakke, Food Insecurity Task Force.

The group says 15.8% of people living in Winnebago County, around 11,000, don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and among children, that number climbs to 20%. The state average among children is 11.3%.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports.