Study identifies food insecurity in region

A recent study indicates that Southeast Missouri has the state's highest rates of food insecurity, according to a June 26 press release from the Southeast Missouri Food Bank.

The Map the Meal Gap annual study evaluates rates of hunger in each county, and noted this year food insecurity was made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Food insecurity rates in the Southeast Missouri region are 16.1 percent and 20.2 percent in children, according to the study. Seven of 10 counties in Missouri with high rates of hunger are in Southeast Missouri, food bank chief executive Joey Keys said in the release.

Pemiscot County was identified as having the highest rate of food insecurity in the state, as one in five adults and one in three children in the county experience food insecurity.

Ripley, Dunklin, Wayne, New Madrid, Mississippi and Butler counties also were ranked as having high rates of hunger.

The Southeast Missouri Food Bank serves 140 locations and 16 counties in the region.