49 Million Americans Going Hungry, Programs Initiating To Raise Food Security

According to a new government report, the number of Americans who lack adequate, consistent access to food rose to a new high of 49 million last year. Especially discouraging is the number of children who live in households with low food security, which rose from 12 million to 17 million in just over a year.

The report gives a stark look at how the economy has impacted American families, despite news over the last months that consumer confidence is improving. President Obama promised during his campaign to eliminate childhood hunger in America by 2015.

As the report indicates, poverty and food insecurity don't necessarily go hand-in-hand. Many of the families who run out of food before they can afford to buy more earn above the poverty level.

Despite the bad news, organizations are promoting new images to help.

The Food Bank For New York City has initiated a new Adopt A Food Program, which pairs long-term volunteers with food banks and pantries where their skills will be best utilized.

Through the Adopt A Food Program, volunteers enter into three, six, or twelve-month commitments, and do more than just hand out food. Volunteers with special skills can host fundraising events, do grant writing, conduct outreach for programs, or even teach classes on computer literacy.

For more ideas, read Causecast's page on How To Feed Hungry Americans or Mazon's blog post with three ways to fight hunger with your Thanksgiving menu.

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Comments

[dlo2]

09:32 PM on 11/19/2009

Local farms, grocery chains, Whole Foods corporate needs to formulate a solution for families in the US who lack the funds to feed themselves and their families. It is time to provide for America and perhaps the banks should be financing the impact on struggling families and try to save their souls.

[research]

05:38 PM on 11/18/2009

Probably the Same people who also cannot afford health insurance.....

[fwhozball]

09:43 AM on 11/18/2009

I really don' t find this hard to believe. Between myself and my husband we earn as much as a single employeed person and are still unable to get any assistance. We have three children and there is times when there was no food and currently our gas service has been disconnected. I would like to know how they figure out the stats for poverty levels. There are families where both parents work and still aren't making it.

[helpinghandz]

03:35 AM on 11/18/2009

Shootz! I have been one of those hungry Americans! Had a decent job but bills ate up the old paycheck...a huge chunk going to rent. Fresh goods run out sooner leaving the canned stuff and bam you are at the end. Was down sized in my job and went from decent to barely anything. Dollar menues were a godsend but not a nutritious road to be on. Lucky for me though I found a job after a few months that pulled me up. It reminded me that in times of plenty I need to have a food stash for when things aren't going as well. It is a matter of self reliance. I too wonder if some of our moneys would be better spent taking care of those that are in need of help such as the homeless and the foodless. There is something to be said for the metal that forged America...thrift and wisdom.

[Subterfuge]

12:40 PM on 11/17/2009

"Many of the families who run out of food before they can afford to buy more earn above the poverty level."

If that's the case then it seems we need to reassess what the poverty level is.

[betty22]

08:41 AM on 11/17/2009

I can help.....stop giving money to other countries. and help here first

[Hehlol]

09:13 AM on 11/17/2009

So profoundly stupid it could only come from an American.

[GrizzlyBowman]

06:10 AM on 11/18/2009

I can think of two countries we are funneling money into better used here: Iraq and Afghanistan.

[pyro]

08:39 AM on 11/17/2009

Many of the families who run out of food before they can afford to buy more earn above the poverty level

The artificial "poverty level" the gov uses to determine who is poor and who is not is a joke and always has been. It's always been set way to high to make any sense. Not sure what the motive has been or is, but it is evil.

A little socialism would go a long way to eliminate a lot of suffering, but no. The Rethugs got theirs, that's all that matters to them.

[Veri]

08:29 AM on 11/17/2009

Welcome to "The Land of Plenty". Forty-nine million is more in population than some countries. Is this our future?

[skippy20008]

07:07 AM on 11/17/2009

Here's the thing, if you are poor, don't have a lot of children. Not unless you can get a TLC show.

[Subterfuge]

12:45 PM on 11/17/2009

It's always so simple. Unemployment doubled in 2 years from 5% to 10%. Certainly those of the 5% of Americans who chose to start families while they had jobs knew that the economy was going to crash but recklessly chose to have families anyway out of ignorance?

Yes, it's definitely that simple to categorize people into little boxes to use for intellectually-lazy self-righteous bantering.

[pterack5]

04:20 AM on 11/17/2009

after reading just the first page of comments, you have to believe we are really at the end of the line, we have lost our soul, we will see America sink into more and more violence, we are taking our place among the third world country's, where the top one % control everything, and the common man, being fooled and unread, gave it all to them. . .

[John Steinsvold]

10:04 PM on 11/17/2009

An Alternative to Capitalism
The following link, takes you to a "utopian" article, entitled "Home of the Brave?" which I wrote and appeared in the Athenaeum Library of Philosophy:
http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/steinsvold.htm
John Steinsvold

[Imago]

02:23 AM on 11/17/2009

This was actually in response to SwingingfromCenter's post below about people being to lazy to work.

[Imago]

02:28 AM on 11/17/2009

And this was supposed to go below.

Weirdness in posting land!

In response to GucciMane: I'm not a single mother and I'm pretty comfortable financially at this point in my life, thank you. In part due to working hard, in part due to education and opportunities. And yes, I'm very familiar with limited resources.

But I have compassion for people who aren't as fortunate as I have been. As you, apparently, don't.

Most single mothers didn't plan to be.

[loki]

01:17 AM on 11/17/2009

I agree, vote out the republicans. The party of No.
But you also have to force the democrats to do what they were elected to do, and not do what the Ivy Greed corporations tell them to do.
But , I also know our politicians and have full faith that they will do whatever option ensures them the best return. Which would be corporate sponsorship. Not the voters interest.

[JoeBlough]

01:08 AM on 11/17/2009

How can you help? Vote out the Republicans, the party of no help.

[ConservativeFrank]

12:49 AM on 11/17/2009

If we can pass health care they wont be hungry anymore :D

[Gucci Mane]

12:28 AM on 11/17/2009

I thought Dollar/Value menu's would have solved this... Thank god for Wendy's.... America has too much food if you ask me.... I mean are any of the people going hungry obese? this could be a good thing

[Imago]

12:30 AM on 11/17/2009

Please tell me you're kidding.

[Imago]

12:46 AM on 11/17/2009

Huh?

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to survive in this country if you are making minimum wage?

In CA, it's $8.00/hour (what most Craig's List pick-up gigs are offering). Less than $1400/month.

It's hard to find anywhere to live in my area for less than $1000/month. Which leaves less than $300/month for everything else.

If you look at the study, the biggest numbers of people struggling with this are single mothers. How do you suppose they pay for child care, manage a car to get to work, pay for clothes or shoes or eyeglasses, or books for their kids, and so on.

What do you do if you're a mom and you've got a choice between buying food for your kids for the week and filling your gas tank so you can continue to get to work?

[JoeBlough]

01:10 AM on 11/17/2009

Why is it so popular to be a single mother? Why can't they find a man?

[Gucci Mane]

01:30 AM on 11/17/2009

I have a great solution, stop overpopulating the planet with kids you can't afford to support... no one made you be a single mother, lord knows there's enough contraception out there to stop even octomom

Maybe it's unreasonable to believe you can have multiple children on your own and have no education and still expect the world to spin perfectly... are you familiar with limited resources?