1 in 6 U.S. Households Struggles with Hunger
America is fast emerging as a new poor nation where people are struggling to get food for their survival. The United States Department of Agriculture reported today that 14.5 percent of American households remain food insecure.
That means, 1 in 6 households in the United States had difficulty at some time during the year in providing enough food for all their members.
The report comes as the House of Representatives is expected to consider a bill this month with a $40 billion cut to federal food assistance.
[ Also Read: Why Americans Have More Negative than Positive Feelings ]“When it comes to food insecurity rates, any number is too high,” said Bob Aiken, Feeding America CEO. “It’s because of numbers like these that we need to maintain a strong federal and charitable safety net to get enough food to those in need. This means strengthening and protecting federal programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps) and TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance Program).”
The proposed $40 billion SNAP cut in the House bill would result in millions of Americans seeing their food assistance reduced or lost entirely, resulting in over 15 billion lost meals for struggling families over the next ten years according to Feeding America estimates.
[ Also Read: U.S. Workplace Productivity Diminishes: Survey ]If divided evenly across Feeding America’s national network of food banks, every food bank would have to provide an additional 7.5 million meals each year for the next ten years.
These cuts would come on top of benefit reductions for all SNAP recipients that will take effect on November 1st and will average about $36 per month for a family of four.
As the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the food to survive.
Photo courtesy: Feeding America
