Many in Horry County, struggle for food

Nearly one in five people in the Carolinas don't know where their next meal will come from, according to a new national report.

The report, "Mapping the Meal Gap," used U.S. census and unemployment data to get statewide and county-level statistics on the number of people facing what is known as "food insecurity." The U.S. Department of Agriculture says food insecurity is when people lack access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members.

An example of food insecurity is when a mother doesn't eat so that her child can.

The report says an estimated 807,000 South Carolinians and 1.6 million North Carolinians were struggling to get enough food to eat at some point in 2009. In Horry County, 43,660 residents, or 17.6 percent of the county, suffered from food insecurity. Twenty percent of Georgetown residents - 12,050 people - had the same problem. And 16,920 residents of Brunswick County, N.C., about 17 percent of the population, did not always get enough to eat. All three counties had higher rates than the national average of 16.6 percent.

The study determined that the South had the highest rates of food insecurity. South Carolina's Allendale County had the third-highest rate in the nation, behind two counties in Georgia and Alabama, with 35.5 percent of Allendale County residents not always sure how they will find their next meal.

The need on the Grand Strand can be seen in the growth of charities that help feed residents. The Lowcountry Food Bank, based in Charleston, estimates it will distribute 4.6 million pounds of food in Horry and Georgetown counties this year.

The agency's 2010 Hunger Study showed 54 percent of the 190,000 people it serves along the S.C. coast had to choose between food and utilities during the year, 32 percent between food and rent or mortgages, and 39 percent between food and medical care. Forty-seven percent of the households also had unpaid medical bills, the study said.

Between 2000 and 2010, there was a 12-fold increase in the amount of food it distributed in the two counties, said Miriam Coombes, Lowcountry's director of development and communications. She said its partner organizations, which include food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters, serve an estimated 50,000 unduplicated clients in Horry and Georgetown counties yearly.

The Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal contributed to this report.