1 in 7 Americans Went Hungry in 2008

That recession is over statement looks more unfortunate every day. The Department of Agriculture disclosed Monday that a little more than 49 million Americans had trouble putting food on the table last year—the highest percentage since the government began keeping track in 1995, up 13 million people from the previous year.

Food insecurity was a problem before the economic meltdown, and things have obviously gotten worse. Sasha Abramsky, author of “Breadline USA,” has done tremendous work on the subject. Listen to a discussion about it here.  —PZS

Reuters via Yahoo:

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.

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Flickr / Rachel Zack