Food insecurity is one way to measure and assess the risk of hunger. Being food insecure is stressful, and food insecurity makes it difficult for children to learn and grow. Financially stressed families often need to choose between spending money on healthy food or other basic needs such as housing or health expenses.

In 2023, 19% of state residents were food insecure, unchanged from 2022 and higher than the national rate of 14%. Arkansas is tied with Mississippi for last in the nation on this indicator. Among counties in the state, food insecurity was highest in Phillips, Searcy, Lee, Nevada, St. Francis, Desha and Montgomery Counties, all at 24% and lowest in Benton County at 15%. The rate of food insecurity was highest among Black residents (33%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (23%) and White (17%) residents in 2023.

Food insecurity is influenced by drivers such as poverty, unemployment, and lack of financial assets. A long history of structural racism and biased policies in the areas of housing, education, and employment have caused many communities of color to face barriers in each of these areas, making it more difficult to afford enough healthy food. Additionally, communities that are predominately Black are more likely to be food deserts: areas without grocery stores or other places to buy fresh, healthy food.

Feeding America estimates the level of food insecurity in counties by analyzing the relationship between reported food insecurity and related indicators such as poverty, unemployment, homeownership at the state level, then applying that knowledge to generate estimates based on county data on poverty, unemployment and similar indicators.