Too often, too many Utahns don't know where their next meal is coming from, a survey by the economic research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has found.

In fact, Utah is the worst state in the country in what the USDA calls "food security" — a family's likelihood of going hungry. Utah has the highest incidence of food insecurity at 15.2 percent. The national average rate is 10.8 percent. Massachusetts ranked lowest in the nation with 6.4 percent.

Food security is defined as a household having readily available, nutritionally adequate food without having to resort to emergency food supplies, scavenging or stealing.

The survey results don't surprise area advocates for the poor.

"In 2003, we are serving more hungry Utahns than ever before," said Bill Tibbitts, Crossroads Urban Center. "I think this shows that a state like Utah where a large percentage of jobs pay lower wages than those necessary to raise a family above the poverty level is hit much harder by a period of recession than other states," Tibbitts said.

The survey is regarded as the most up-to-date information on food access in the country. Since 1995, the USDA has released estimates of the number of households that are food insecure. This year's survey shows that not only are food-insecure households increasing here and around the country, the number of households reporting hunger as a nearly constant concern about access to food are going up as well.

One reason for Utah's poor showing is that about half the people who would qualify for food stamps and other federal food-assistance programs aren't using them.

"Those households are the most vulnerable, and they're just not signing up," said Gina Cornia, executive director of Utahns Against Hunger.

The survey also counters Utahns' widely held belief that the emergency food pantries or church welfare programs are taking care of hunger. One of the questions in the survey was how many and how often parents skipped meals so their children could eat. Two-thirds of the food-insecure households reported they had done so in eight or more months the past year.

"This shows the culmination of a bunch of things," Cornia said. "These folks weren't faring well in the booming economy, either. Now in a downturn in the economy, this population is dipping even further."

The upcoming "Help Your Neighbor" food drive and the publicity among area churches about it do help the situation, Cornia and other advocates said, noting that while nice holiday meals are great there are 362 days in the rest of the year when access isn't so sure.

"We focus on an emergency response at certain times of the year," Cornia said. "It's an empty notion that personal food storage or the church takes care of it when it can't possibly take care of it. The need doesn't end."

An assessment of the survey by Brandeis University notes that food security ultimately is a question of economic security or enough money to pay rent and utilities and other costs of living less flexible than food.

The average food-secure household spent 35 percent more for food than a household of the same size and composition that was food-insecure, the university's Center on Hunger and Poverty reported. Households without hunger problems also spent 1.3 times the maximum amount a household can get in food stamps.

---

E-MAIL: jthalman@desnews.com