1 in 7 Americans short on food
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BobbyG
Nov 19, 2009, 12:31:07 AM11/19/09
to farmshed
Have you seen this story yet? How do we reconcile the overproduction
of food that drives prices down below the cost of production for small
farmers (and increasingly, even large ones) with these facts of people
struggling to get enough to eat? There seems to be some massive,
built-in irrationality about this entire food system. --b.g.
--------------------
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5AF42220091116?sp=true
By Charles Abbott and Christopher Doering
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 49 million Americans -- one in seven
-- struggled to get enough to eat in 2008, the highest total in 14
years of a federal survey on "food insecurity," the U.S. government
said Monday.
While Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said programs such as food
stamps softened the impact of an economic recession, anti-hunger
groups pointed to the huge increase from the preceding year when 36.2
million people had trouble getting enough food and a third of them
occasionally went hungry.
"The survey suggested that things could be much worse but for the fact
that we have extensive food assistance programs," Vilsack told
reporters. "This is a great opportunity to put a spotlight on this
problem."
About 14.6 percent of U.S. households, equal to 49.1 million people,
"had difficulty obtaining food for all their members due to a lack of
resources" during 2008, up 3.5 percentage points from 2007 when 11.1
percent of households were classified as food insecure.
About 5.7 percent of households, or 17.3 million people, had "very low
food security," meaning some members of the household had to eat less.
Typically, food runs short in those households for a few days in seven
or eight months of the year, USDA said.
President Barack Obama called the USDA report "unsettling" and vowed
to reverse the trend of rising hunger.
"Our children's ability to grow, learn, and meet their full potential
-- and therefore our future competitiveness as a nation -- depends on
regular access to healthy meals," Obama said in a statement.
USDA's annual report was based on a survey conducted in December 2008,
soon after financial markets slumped and when the jobless rate was
marching toward its current 10.2 percent.
"The numbers are even worse than people otherwise believed," said Jim
Weill of the Food Research and Action Center, an anti-hunger group.
"We all know we have the worst downturn since the Depression."
David Beckmann of the anti-hunger group Bread for the World
called for stronger federal anti-hunger programs.
"The recession has made the problem of hunger worse, and it has also
made it more visible," he said.
Vilsack said the report represented "an opportunity here for the
country to make a major commitment to end childhood hunger by 2015,"
an administration goal. He called on Congress to make it easier for
poor children to get free school meals and to improve the nutritional
quality of those meals.
Child nutrition programs, which cost about $24 billion a year, are
overdue for renewal but Congress is not expected to act before 2010.
The administration backs a $1 billion increase but has not found
offsetting cuts at USDA to pay for it.
The number of Americans receiving food stamp assistance soared above
36 million for the first time in August, the eighth month in a row
that enrollment set a record, the USDA said earlier this month.
As part of the stimulus package, food stamp benefits were raised
temporarily through September 2010. Vilsack said it was too early to
judge if the increase should become permanent.
(Editing by Jim Marshall)
of food that drives prices down below the cost of production for small
farmers (and increasingly, even large ones) with these facts of people
struggling to get enough to eat? There seems to be some massive,
built-in irrationality about this entire food system. --b.g.
--------------------
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5AF42220091116?sp=true
By Charles Abbott and Christopher Doering
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 49 million Americans -- one in seven
-- struggled to get enough to eat in 2008, the highest total in 14
years of a federal survey on "food insecurity," the U.S. government
said Monday.
While Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said programs such as food
stamps softened the impact of an economic recession, anti-hunger
groups pointed to the huge increase from the preceding year when 36.2
million people had trouble getting enough food and a third of them
occasionally went hungry.
"The survey suggested that things could be much worse but for the fact
that we have extensive food assistance programs," Vilsack told
reporters. "This is a great opportunity to put a spotlight on this
problem."
About 14.6 percent of U.S. households, equal to 49.1 million people,
"had difficulty obtaining food for all their members due to a lack of
resources" during 2008, up 3.5 percentage points from 2007 when 11.1
percent of households were classified as food insecure.
About 5.7 percent of households, or 17.3 million people, had "very low
food security," meaning some members of the household had to eat less.
Typically, food runs short in those households for a few days in seven
or eight months of the year, USDA said.
President Barack Obama called the USDA report "unsettling" and vowed
to reverse the trend of rising hunger.
"Our children's ability to grow, learn, and meet their full potential
-- and therefore our future competitiveness as a nation -- depends on
regular access to healthy meals," Obama said in a statement.
USDA's annual report was based on a survey conducted in December 2008,
soon after financial markets slumped and when the jobless rate was
marching toward its current 10.2 percent.
"The numbers are even worse than people otherwise believed," said Jim
Weill of the Food Research and Action Center, an anti-hunger group.
"We all know we have the worst downturn since the Depression."
David Beckmann of the anti-hunger group Bread for the World
called for stronger federal anti-hunger programs.
"The recession has made the problem of hunger worse, and it has also
made it more visible," he said.
Vilsack said the report represented "an opportunity here for the
country to make a major commitment to end childhood hunger by 2015,"
an administration goal. He called on Congress to make it easier for
poor children to get free school meals and to improve the nutritional
quality of those meals.
Child nutrition programs, which cost about $24 billion a year, are
overdue for renewal but Congress is not expected to act before 2010.
The administration backs a $1 billion increase but has not found
offsetting cuts at USDA to pay for it.
The number of Americans receiving food stamp assistance soared above
36 million for the first time in August, the eighth month in a row
that enrollment set a record, the USDA said earlier this month.
As part of the stimulus package, food stamp benefits were raised
temporarily through September 2010. Vilsack said it was too early to
judge if the increase should become permanent.
(Editing by Jim Marshall)
BobbyG
Nov 19, 2009, 9:43:06 AM11/19/09
to farmshed
Maimstream media keeps asking the wrong question: "Can organic ag.
feed the world?"
Correct question is: "Can conventional ag. feed the world?"
According to stories such as these, answer seems to be: "No, well, not
very well at least."
b.g.
feed the world?"
Correct question is: "Can conventional ag. feed the world?"
According to stories such as these, answer seems to be: "No, well, not
very well at least."
b.g.
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