Recession causes more families to go without food, survey finds

The number of U.S. households that are struggling to feed their members jumped by 4 million to 17 million last year, as recession-driven job losses and increased poverty and unemployment fueled a surge in hunger, a government survey reported Monday.

These "food-insecure" households represent about 49 million people and make up 14.6 percent, or more than one in seven, of all U.S. households. That's the highest rate since the U.S. Department of Agriculture began monitoring the issue in 1995.

Additionally, more than one-third of these struggling families - some 6.7 million households, or 17.2 million people last year - had "very low food security," in which food intake was reduced and eating patterns were disrupted for some family members because of a lack of food.

In phone interviews, more than two-thirds of people with very low food security said they went hungry from time to time, and 27 percent of these adults said they didn't eat at all some days.

These families make up 5.7 percent of U.S. households, again the highest rate since 1995, up from 4.1 percent and 4.7 million households in 2007.

In a statement, President Barack Obama called the report unsettling and said it was particularly troubling that there were more than 500,000 families in which children experienced hunger multiple times last year.

Obama said his administration was "committed to reversing the trend of rising hunger" and that restoring job growth would "help relieve the economic pressures that make it difficult for parents to put a square meal on the table each day."

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the situation would be far worse for many more Americans were it not for food pantries and federal food assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.

Vilsack said the findings were consistent with the nation's dire economic climate and that next year's report probably would show a worsening situation due to continued job losses and rising unemployment.

Vilsack said the findings from the annual USDA survey of 44,000 households were a "wake-up call for America."