[Previous entry: "Tim Wise: Framing the Poor"] [Next entry: "Robert Fisk: Government for and by the dead"]

10/30/2005:

"House Panel OKs School Lunch Funding Cut"

WASHINGTON - The House Agriculture Committee approved budget cuts Friday that would take food stamps away from an estimated 300,000 people and could cut off school lunches and breakfasts for 40,000 children.

The action came as the government reported that the number of people who are hungry because they can't afford to buy enough food rose to 38.2 million in 2004, an increase of 7 million in five years. The number represents nearly 12 percent of U.S. households.
news.yahoo.com

Texas Leads nation in rate of households at risk for hunger

A higher percentage of Texas households were at risk of going hungry over the past three years than in any other state. That's according to data released today by the U-S Agriculture Department.

The U-S-D-A report says that between 2002 and 2004, more than 16 percent of Texas households were food insecure, meaning that at some point they had trouble providing enough food for all their family members.

In nearly five percent of Texas households, at least one family member went hungry at least one time during that period because they couldn't afford enough food. That's the fourth-highest rate in the country.

Nationwide, about eleven-point-four percent of households were at risk of going hungry during that period, and three-point-six percent of U-S households had at least one member go hungry.

While Texas has consistently ranked among the top five states, this is the first year it leads the nation. That's according to a senior policy analyst at the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities, which advocates more state spending on education and social programs.