The Food Assistance Landscape, recently released by the USDA, covers recent trends from the Food and Nutrition Service. It reports that the 11% increase in expenditures for food assistance programs in fiscal year 2008 was the largest percentage increase in 16 years. While SNAP accounts for 62% of spending, WIC was the fastest growing food assistance…
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Tag: hunger
This link opens a New York Times article on the effects of drought in California’s Central Valley.
The Food Research and Action Center released a report on the national School Breakfast Program for the school year 2007-2008.
Although the growing number of children receiving free and reduced price lunches at school signals increasing levels of need as the nation faces an extended economic crisis, it also indicates that millions of children who may face food insecurity at home have access to meals at school.
According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the number of people participating in food and nutrition programs (including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the free school lunch program, and WIC) increased steadily between 2004 and 2008, with the largest increase occurring in 2008. http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/annual.htm
Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest), a national hunger-relief charity, conducted a local impact survey of 160 food banks in the U.S. in 2008. All of the food banks reported an increase in demand for food over the past year, with estimated increases ranging from 29% to 38%
While the cost of food rose by 7.5 percent from October 2007 to September 2008, the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan (the mix of food items on which low-income people rely) rose even faster. Over the same time period, the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan rose by 9.4 percent.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors surveyed 25 cities between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2008. Most cities (95%) reported an increase in demand for emergency food over the past year.
Federal spending on food programs increased significantly between 1990 and 2007.
This link opens a Reuters article on the rising number of Americans receiving Food Stamps (SNAP) assistance. In September 2008 one in 10 Americans were participating in the food stamp program.