U.S. hunger report indicates high amounts of food insecurity

American families are struggling to put food on the table as much as this past year, says the Department of Agriculture. However, the amount of food insecurity – difficulty feeding one or more family members because of lack of cash – is at the greatest recorded amount since the federal government started keeping track of the statistic in 1995.

Food insecurity in almost 15 percent of U.S. homes

Food insecurity status was given to 14.7 % of American households in 2009. That means that 17.4 million households are under this status. Regarding 45 million individuals are in these households. The Department of Agriculture explains that "very low food security" was the status given to one-third of those homes.

Paying for food becoming harder

Food insecure homes cited in the study typically went as least a few days per month over a seven-month period with moderate to severe food problems. Those households run by single parents were substantially more likely to experience food security troubles than two-parent households. Minors were more prone to food insecurity such as African-American and Hispanic homes. Suburbs and rural areas tended to have more households with this status as well.

What food insecure homes could get

Not surprisingly, the vast majority of homes that qualified as food insecure according to the Department of Agriculture’s research were on some form of federal assistance. Specifically, these homes benefit from one or more of the following initiatives: the Supplemental Nutrition Help Program, the National Schooling Lunch Program, or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Kids (WIC). The first Supplemental Nutrition Help Program saw an 18.7 percent increase in advantages granted last year, while the lunch program (5.4 %) and WIC (5.8 %) also showed significant gains.

Help is needed

The reports the Department of Agriculture came out with are showing just how essential these programs are. The Obama administration is looking at getting the federal deficit down which makes the programs look quite easy to cut. These programs are for the well-being of American families USDA Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon explained to Cable News Network. The restrictions on how benefits are used are one thing that those against the programs point out need to be changed.

Info from

CNN

edition.cnn.com/2010/US/11/15/poverty.hunger/index.html?iref=NS1

Too many children are hungry

youtube.com/watch?v=VkTPgexN8XM