A disturbing press release issued today by President Obama reported that, “As American families prepare to gather for Thanksgiving, we received an unsettling report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that found that hunger rose significantly last year.” It’s yet another byproduct of the recession. We perused the USDA Household Food Security report on Food Insecurity (published by Mark Nord, Margaret Andrews, and Steven Carlson in this month’s Economic Research Report ) which you can access here and found some other facts that are sure to burden your day, along with the story over the weekend about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, now roughly two times the size of Texas.
14.6% of US families (17 million households) were food insecure at least some time during the year, “including 5.7% (6.7 million households) with very low food security—meaning that the food intake of one or more household members was reduced and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and other resources for food.” The 14.6% of hungry families were up from the 11.1%/4.1% (13 million/4.7 million households) of 2007, and are the highest numbers since 1995 when the survey was first conducted. See graph at right from the Amber Waves article (no, not written by the character Julianne Moore played) for your visuals 1999-2008. The typical food-secure household spent 31 percent more on food than the typical food-insecure household of the same size and household composition.
And more news that hasn’t changed, “Rates of food insecurity were substantially higher than the national average for households with incomes near or below the Federal poverty line [for a family of 4 in 2009: $22,050] households with children headed by single women or single men, and Black and Hispanic households. Food insecurity was more common in large cities and rural areas than in suburban areas and other outlying areas around large cities. Regionally, food insecurity was more prevalent in the South, intermediate in the Midwest and West, and least prevalent in the Northeast.”
So what did Obama have to say about it? In his press release (transcript here via the Boston Globe), he outlined an action plan with a focus on the children who are being affected by food insecurity: “Earlier this year, we extended help to those hit hardest by this economic downturn by boosting SNAP benefits. And Secretary Vilsack is working hard to make sure eligible families are able to access those benefits as well as the School Lunch and Breakfast Program. In addition, a bill I signed into law last month invests $85 million in new strategies to prevent children from experiencing hunger in the summer.” So instead of stewing with guilt over this and your foie-gras burger, throw some cans to your local Thanksgiving food drive (here’s one).
This is growing problem here for Florida. I’m volunteering some time to help in a food bank distribution for holiday meals and the organization I’m working with expects to help close to 30,000 families this year. These are families on the edge and those who have fallen over the edge. The numbers are up from last year and the need is great.
I can only imagine that around the nation it’s just as bad. That’s why I think there’s a huge disconnect between what our government is reporting economic-wise and what is really happening on the street.
If you can help with food or time please do, I’m sure that there is an organization in your area.