Hunger Rises to Historic High

from Feedstuffs.com:
- Hunger in America at highest level in history of USDA report.

- Sources note that the report covered 2008, suggesting that situation is even worse this year.

- Adults tend to sacrifice nutritional needs to make sure their children have access to food.

IT'S not a holiday story one wants to report, but more people in the U.S., including children, are going hungry than ever before in history, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "Household Food Security" report issued last week. 
The annual report revealed that 17 million American households -- 14.6% of households -- were "food insecure" in 2008, the highest level observed since the report was first undertaken in 1995, USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) said.

The numbers represent 49 million Americans, including nearly 17 million children. 
Furthermore, fully one-third of the affected households -- 6.7 million, or 5.7%, of American households -- were in the highest-possible state of food insecurity -- meaning that at least some household members experienced decreased food intake and disrupted eating patterns during the year -- also the highest level in the history of the report, ERS said.

Children are normally shielded from food insecurity, ERS noted, but nevertheless, children in 506,000 households, or 1.3%, experienced the highest-possible state of food insecurity in 2008, ERS said. 
The fundamental reason for food insecurity in the U.S. is poverty, which is marked by a lack of resources to address basic needs such as food, shelter and health care, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

He noted that the Obama Administration has taken aggressive steps to address poverty through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009, focusing on job creation and training, income support and unemployment insurance and affordable housing.