1.  Mississippi Ranked Hungriest State in U.S.
(Clarion-Ledger, November 19, 2007)

With 18.1 percent of households struggling with hunger during 2006, Mississippi is the “hungriest” state in the U.S. according to the latest food insecurity numbers released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The percentage is up from 2005, when 16.5 percent of Mississippi's households were considered to be food insecure. The national average is 11.3 percent. Some of the increase can be traced to the lingering impact of Hurricane Katrina, but many experts say the rise in gas prices and food are contributing to the challenges facing the nation’s poorest state.                  

2. Vermont ’s Food Insecurity on the Rise
(Vermont Public Radio, November 19, 2007)

The number of households in Vermont struggling with “very low” food security has nearly doubled to 4.3 percent since 2002. The loss of manufacturing jobs since the 1990’s may be to blame for the increase in food insecurity, said Joanne Hidecamp, Program Director for the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger. “We have dramatically increased housing costs, fuel costs and food costs have increased far faster than people's paychecks,” she said. "So as communities, we really need to look at all those other strands of the nutrition assistance safety net, so that … when kids are at school, when kids are at child care, they can access nutritious meals through the federal nutrition programs."

3. Rise in Hunger Threat to Children's Health and School Readiness
(The Columbus Dispatch, November 15, 2007)

The number of households in Ohio struggling with food insecurity has increased 2 percent, rising to 12.7 percent from 10.9 the previous year. Nationally, there are 11.1 million households with ‘very low’ food security – where one or more person in the house went hungry. According to Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks, hunger is a threat to children's health and readiness for school, and to senior citizens who often must choose between food and medicine.

4. USDA Announces $1 Million in Grants for Outreach
(USDA.gov, November 19, 2007)

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service announced the availability of at least $1 million in grants to increasing awareness of the USDA’s Food Stamp Program. The purpose of the outreach is to inform and education potentially eligible low-income persons about the program’s benefits. The outreach will target seniors and Hispanics, as they are most significantly underserved populations in the Food Stamp Program.

5. South Dakota Reporter Takes Food Stamp Challenge
(Argus Leader, November 18, 2007)

For Nestor Ramos, an editor at the Argus-Leader, the Food Stamp Challenge highlighted that for many people the real challenge is struggling with hunger with no end in sight. “That $21 represents the average food stamp allotment for South Dakota,” he writes. “[W]hile food stamps are meant to supplement income spent on food, many end up spending their money on rent, bills or other things.”

Read more: “Eating on $21 a week. Can you do it?” Argus-Leader, November 10, 2007
South Dakota Food Stamp Challenge Blog

6. Downward Economic Mobility Higher among African-Americans
(Washington Post, November 13, 2007)

Nearly half of African Americans born to middle-income parents in the late 1960s grew up to be among the lowest fifth of the nation's earners, according to a report released by Pew Charitable Trusts. Only 16 percent of whites experienced a similar downward mobility. Analysts say the findings underscore the fragile nature of middle-class life for many African American families. The Panel Study of Income Dynamics followed 2,367 people from across the country, including 730 African Americans, since 1968.

7. Full-time Work Not Enough to Support Many Families
(Telegram-Gazette, November 13, 2007)

Many working parents struggle to feed their families as they make too much money to qualify for food stamps but not enough to buy sufficient food for their family. A job that pays $10 an hour – $20,800 a year – just barely exceeds the poverty level for a family of four. The federal poverty level is $20,650. “The way that the food stamps calculation is done, if a family is making a couple hundred dollars a week, the food stamps aren’t going to be $50 a week,” said Josefina Velez, director of social services at Friendly House in Worcester.” Most food stamp recipients in the Worcester area receive $15 to $25 a week, she said. For many families, basic expenses, such as housing, are increasing at a faster rate than salaries.

Read More:
This article is one of four in a series on hunger in Massachusetts by the Telegram-Gazette. “Hunger hides in plain sight,” and “Feeding the Hungry,” November 11, 2007, and “Stretching their budget,” November 12, 2007

8. Statement Calls for Restoring Heat, Expanding Availability of Food Stamps
(The Pawtucket Times, November 13, 2007

Henry Shelton, of Pawtucket’’s George Wiley Center, asked for signatures on a statement requesting that every house in Rhode Island have heating and lights restored not later than Thanksgiving day. The statement also asks that the state make food stamps more accessible to households in need. Shelton will present the statement to Governor Donald Carcieri at a meeting at the State House. Currently there are 3,000 to 5,000 households state-wide without electricity or heat. "We want the governor to know that the situation in Rhode Island is still dire and with winter coming on it's only going to get worse," Shelton said. "In these cases, food is the first to go. People will cut back on food to heat their homes."

9. Michigan Group Helping Households with Rising Oil Prices
(Leelanau Enterprise, November 2007)

The Leelanau Christian Neighbors is filling requests for grants as quickly as they can. The group runs a Neighbor Assistance Ministry, which has seen a significant increase in the number of walk-in clients. In the first six months of 2006, they donated $3,800 toward home heating costs. They expect to donate even more this year as more households are strapped with rising energy costs. Requests for help paying electric bills may increas even more than heating oil need, said Barb Graves, treasurer of Leelanau Christian Neighbors. “Some of the people are heating their homes electrically. When they run out of fuel, they turn on their oven to heat their home," said Graves.

10. Op-Ed: School Breakfast Can Help Combat Rising Hunger in Maine
(Kennebec Journal, November 18, 2007)

Hunger grew by 40 percent in Maine since the last time it was measured in 2003 – the fastest growing rate in the U.S., according to this editorial by the Kennebec Journal. Food costs, fuel, and housing are all more expensive and wages are just not keeping up. According to the editorial, jobs with better wages and more generous benefits for food stamps are among the solutions. For children, making sure they have breakfast at school is one strategy that “can get more food into the mouths of Maine's hungry children.” State Sen. Libby Mitchell (D-Vassalboro) introduced a bill to serve breakfast in school to all eligible children. “It's a promising piece of legislation that deserves the support of lawmakers,” concludes the editorial.

11. Number of Families Seeking Thanksgiving Help Doubles
(Herald Tribune, November 18, 2007)

Three hundred families in North Port, Fla. registered to receive a free Thanksgiving turkey from the Feed the Hungry Program. That number is nearly double last year’s after a downturn in the economy and slump in the construction industry. Carylon Pitts, a volunteer for the Mayors' Feed the Hungry program, said the increase in need was directly related to the slowing economy. "A job… is barely enough to keep the lights on and pay the rent," she said. "I just know how they feel because I'm feeling it now."

12. Expansive Hunger in South Texas
(Laredo Morning Times, November 19, 2007)

Ninety percent of 35,650 South Texans who receive monthly food assistance have been identified as chronically hungry. The causes of poverty and hunger could be lack of education, the cost of living and low wages, said J.C. Dwyer, director of public policy for the South Texas Food Bank. Dwyer pointed out that greater public awareness and participation can push for policies that can address poverty and hunger. For example, people can encourage Congress to supplement the Food Stamp Program in the 2007 Farm Bill, said Dwyer.