Food affordability and estimated poverty (opens in new tab)

The US Census Bureau collects data and reports on the poverty level each year. Their statistical definition of poverty has to do with the affordability of food. As they describe, the Office of Management and Budget’s Directive 14 sets a money income threshold related to the after-tax spending by families on a food plan defined by the Department of Agriculture. At the time of this writing, the poverty income threshold for a family of four is $32,130.