HUNGER SURVEY

We started  by reviewing the current data on nutrition and hunger issues in the county.  It was soon obvious that no other such information had been collected, thus eliminating any concerns over duplicating another study.  We then went ahead with conducting our own research on this issue.

Collection Method
The hunger survey instrument used was based on the Cornell/Radimer Questionnaire to Estimate the Prevalence of Hunger and Food Insecurity shared by Christine Olson at the Transforming Anti-Hunger Leadership (TAHL) conference in October 1996. We modified the survey to include questions specific to Marathon County and had it translated into Hmong. In order to make this a viable study, we consulted a research analyst from the University of Wisconsin-Marathon Campus. He advised conducting two studies simultaneously, one written and one by telephone. The phone survey would be our primary source of information as it would give us a systematic random sample. The goal was to conduct 1500 phone interviews by selecting every 35th name in relevant phone directories from throughout the county. Reaching people willing to respond proved more difficult and time-consuming than was anticipated. In the end, we decided to conclude the study using information from just 363 respondents rather than the desired 1500.

The written surveys were intended to give us more in-depth information on Marathon County's hunger picture. With the cooperation of local agencies where low-income residents go to get food or money to buy food, we got 278 people to fill out a questionnaire at their sites. The questions were the same as the ones asked in the phone interviews.

Our Phone Survey
Despite the much smaller than desired sample size, a few inferences could still be drawn from the phone survey. We learned that Marathon County residents are much more likely to go hungry if they don't make much money, if they have children, and if the adults in the household don't have a full-time job. In fact, households with more children reported substantially greater levels of hunger for all family members, not just the children. We also learned that ethnicity was a powerful predictor of hunger, as the average Asian was much more likely to be hungry than the average white person.

Other interesting findings were that 18% of the people we called said they use special programs to get food, and 9% sometimes go hungry or run out of food. When we asked these people what they do to get more food when they run out, the most frequent answer was they enrolled in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program. Others said they used food stamps. Slightly less people said their children get free or reduced-price lunches, and a few said they go to the Salvation Army.

Our Written Survey
We weren't surprised to learn that the people who filled out our written questionnaires were more likely to go hungry than the people we phoned. In fact, 64% of the people who filled out our questionnaire were living below the poverty line. Additionally, we discovered that over a quarter (26%) of the respondents sometimes go hungry or run out of food, and two out of three said they get help from pantries and other places to feed their families. A lot more Asians, low-income people, and families with children filled out questionnaires compared to the people we picked out of the phone book. Most of the people we surveyed by phone were white and lived in Wausau (11% were Southeast Asian). Only around 1 in 4 people we phoned were low-income.

Unfortunately, 22% of people filling out questionnaires said they don't get the help they need when they are hungry. Most say the problem is not knowing where to go for help. Slightly less say the problem is not having transportation. Still others said language difficulties were to blame or that getting help was highly inconvenient. Respondents said that what our area needs most  is more food pantries. Others said meat distribution would be helpful. Slightly less people said free produce should be distributed, while a few others thought school breakfasts should be more available.

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