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Sure they may be getting some food, but just barely. "...for 1 in 6 people in the United States, hunger is a reality" "These are often hard-working adults, children and seniors who simply cannot make ends meet and are forced to go without food for several meals, or even days" http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts.asp...


"...for 1 in 6 people in the United States, hunger is a reality"

That's simply not true. It's a misreading of the USDA's food security survey results, wherein the standard for "food insecurity"[1] is

[R]eports of reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet. Little or no indication of reduced food intake.

Note the second sentence. Hunger is not a "reality" for your family just because the USDA judges you to have "low food security".

[1] http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/foo...


Would you agree that "very low food security" translates to "hunger"? If so then the number is close to 1 in 18. In my opinion this is still a high number.

http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err-economic-research-r...

From your link, of those that reported "very low food security":

96 percent reported that an adult had cut the size of meals or skipped meals because there was not enough money for food.

89 percent reported that this had occurred in 3 or more months.

95 percent of respondents reported that they had eaten less than they felt they should because there was not enough money for food.

68 percent of respondents reported that they had been hungry but did not eat because they could not afford enough food.

47 percent of respondents reported having lost weight because they did not have enough money for food.

29 percent reported that an adult did not eat for a whole day because there was not enough money for food.

23 percent reported that this had occurred in 3 or more months.

*Edited for formatting of percent breakdown


One person in hunger is too many, as I'm sure many politicians before me have said. But there's a massive difference between 1/6 and 1/18, and if we can't be accurate about just how bad things are, how can we know if we're improving? (And of course, we are: Hunger was a much greater problem among the poor decades ago).


What pains me is that some of the people I personally know who are affected by this have jobs. Heck, some have two jobs! Several causes: minimum wage, part-time jobs pay too little, having two or three kids is expensive, housing is relatively expensive, some people prioritize luxury goods like iPhones and cable over necessities like food and savings.


An iPhone can set you back 20 dollars a month. That's a lot, lot less than food. Just how many iPhones are these people buying?




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