Silicon Valley a region famed for its foodie culture, where you can dine on gold-flecked steaks, $500 tasting menus and $29 loaves of bread, hunger is alarmingly widespread, according to a new research conducted by the Health Trust. 

One in four people in Silicon Valley are at risk of hunger, researchers at the Second Harvest Food Bank have found. Using hundreds of community interviews and data modeling, a new study suggests that 26.8% of the population – almost 720,000 people – qualify as “food insecure” based on risk factors such as missing meals, relying on food banks or food stamps, borrowing money for food, or neglecting bills and rent in order to buy groceries. Nearly a quarter are families with children.

Food insecurity often accompanies other poverty indicators, such as homelessness. San Jose, Silicon Valley’s largest city, had a homeless population of more than 4,000 people during a recent count. They are hungry, too: research conducted by the Health Trust, a local not-for-profit, found food resources available to them are scattered and inadequate.

Because poverty is often shrouded in shame, the clients’ situations can come as a surprise. Often we think of somebody visibly hungry, the traditional homeless person, but the study is putting light on the non-traditional homeless: people living in their car or a garage, working people who have to choose between rent and food, people without access to a kitchen.”

We are not thinking when we pick up our shirts from dry cleaning, getting our landscaping done, going to a restaurant, or getting our child cared for, is that person hungry? It is very easy to assume they are fine.

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