The number of Americans who struggled to get enough food last year remained at a record high, according to a report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
More than 50 million Americans lived in households that had a hard time getting enough to eat at least at some point during 2009. That includes 17 million children, and at least a half-million of those children faced the direst conditions. They had inadequate diets, or even missed meals, because their families didn't have enough money for food.
"Household food insecurity remains a serious problem across the United States," says Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon.He says there's a reason the hunger numbers hit a record high in 2008 and stayed there in 2009: a struggling economy.
"It is a considerable reflection of what is going on in the economy," he says. "So jobs, employment, the overall economic health of the country are a major portion of it."
www.npr.org/2010/11/15/131328286/record-number-of-u-s-households-face-hunger
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