Around the world, people commonly associate Italy with their favorite foods: pasta, bread and warm, baked goods. We imagine music playing on the streets and see photos of the beautiful and historic sites of Rome, Naples and Florence. However, Italy struggles with internal issues just like any other country, especially hunger. Each day, more than 1.5 million people go without enough to eat.

The U.N. defines food security as every person having physical, social and economic access to enough safe and nutritious food to meet and sustain dietary needs for a productive and healthy life. “Hunger,” on the other hand, describes periods in which people experience severe food insecurity where they go days without eating. This occurs because of the lack of money, access to food, or other resources. Here are four facts about the situation of hunger in Italy:

Four Facts About Hunger in Italy

1. Food insecurity in Italy rests around a rate of 22%. This is a relatively low percentage compared to other elevated rates around the world and even in parts of Europe. However, Italy’s total population is 60.4 million. With this considered, 13.29 million people are subject to food insecurity each day.
2. Roughly one in 12 Italians are living in absolute poverty, meaning they lack the income to ensure access to food, housing, education and health care. This rate has risen in recent years alongside increasing inflation in Italy and is higher than the average rate of poverty for EU citizens. Furthermore, this phenomenon disproportionately affects young Italians, 1.27 million of whom live in absolute poverty today, and they can become stuck in a cycle of poverty without being able to pull themselves out. Living under such conditions, it is challenging for Italians to afford adequate access to nutritious food, and they can thus become susceptible to hunger.
3. The Italian government has taken action against hunger, beginning a new welfare program for its underprivileged population in 2019. Italian citizens who qualify must be earning less than 9,360 euros ($9,870) per year, which is less than half of the national average. The welfare program has a pre-paid debit card to use for groceries, bills, medicines and other necessities. Also, able-bodied residents must enter a job-finding program or a training program. Furthermore, Italy has been a strong partner of international efforts like the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization to promote food security and improve food systems at home and abroad.
4. The U.N. includes hunger in its seventeen goals it hopes to achieve by the end of 2030. Zero Hunger recognizes the 735 million people struggling with chronic hunger around the world in 2022 and works toward food security and an end to hunger for every global citizen. Global food security has seen a worrying trend since 2015 and was only exacerbated by the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.N., however, combats this phenomenon and fights for hungry areas, even those in rural parts of developed nations like Italy, to have access to nutritious food options, escape poverty and learn solutions for more efficient and nutritious agricultural techniques in the future. 

While not commonly known, hunger exists in Italy and is worsened by the state of unemployment and poverty under which many Italians live. However, through government efforts as well as global commitments to combat food insecurity, there is hope for a future where hunger in Italy is no longer a major concern.

– Rebecca Blanke and Cole Zickwolff
Photo: Pikist
Updated: November 21, 2024