Nearly one in six citizens went hungry in 2008

As the World Food Security Summit got under way in Rome Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture disclosed that nearly one in six U.S. households went hungry at some time during 2008, the highest level since it began monitoring food security levels in 1995. Altogether, 14.6 percent of households, or some 49 million people, "had difficulty putting enough food on the table at times during the year", according to the report, "Household Food Security in the United States, 2008". That marked a sharp increase from the 11.1 percent of households, or 36.2 million people, who found themselves in similar straits during 2007, according to the report whose lead author predicted that the percentage was likely to be higher in 2009 due to the ripple effects of the financial crisis that erupted 14 months ago. Among the 17 million households that experienced hunger–or "food insecurity", as the report referred to it - during 2008, about one-third suffered "very low food security", meaning that the amount of food of at least some household members was reduced and their normal eating patterns were substantially disrupted. Such households experienced such disruptions for at least a few days during seven or eight months of the year. The other two-thirds were able to obtain enough food to avoid substantial disruptions by using a number of coping strategies, such as eating less varied diets, participating in government food and nutrition assistance programs, or obtaining food from community food pantries or emergency kitchens.