USDA to drop 'hunger' from its annual report

[Jon8503]

By Elizabeth Williamson
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - The U.S. government has vowed that Americans will never be hungry again. But they may experience "very low food security."

Every year, the Agriculture Department issues a report that measures Americans' access to food, and it has consistently used the word hunger in describing those who can least afford to put food on the table. But not this year.

Mark Nord, an Agriculture sociologist and the lead author of the report, said hungry is "not a scientifically accurate term for the specific phenomenon being measured in the food-security survey."

The department said that 12 percent of Americans -- 35 million people -- could not afford to put food on the table at least part of last year. Eleven million of them reported going hungry at times. Beginning this year, the Agriculture Department has determined "very low food security" to be a more scientifically palatable description for that group.

The U.S. has set a goal of reducing the proportion of food-insecure households to 6 percent or less by 2010, or half the 1995 level, but it has proved difficult.

The number of hungry Americans has risen over the past five years, and the share of food-insecure households stood at 11 percent last year.

In assembling its report, the Agriculture Department divides Americans into groups with "food security" and those with "food insecurity," who cannot always afford to keep food on the table. Under the old language, that group -- 11 percent of American households last year -- was categorized into "food insecurity without hunger," meaning people who ate, though sometimes not well, and "food insecurity with hunger," for those who sometimes had no food.

That last group now forms the category "very low food security," described as experiencing "multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake." Slightly better-off people who aren't always sure where their next meal is coming from are labeled simply "low food security."

Anti-hunger advocates say the new words sugarcoat a national shame.

"The proposal to remove the word hunger from our official reports is a huge disservice to the millions of Americans who struggle daily to feed themselves and their families," said David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, an anti-hunger advocacy group.

Access to food

New federal terminology:

Very low food security: People with "multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake." Described 10.8 million people in 2005, up from 10.7 million in 2004.

Low food security: People who aren't always sure where their next meal is coming from. Described 24 million in 2005, down from 27.5 million in 2004.

SOURCE: The Associated Press

Access to food

New federal terminology:

Very low food security: People with "multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake." Described 10.8 million people in 2005, up from 10.7 million in 2004.

Low food security: People who aren't always sure where their next meal is coming from. Described 24 million in 2005, down from 27.5 million in 2004.

SOURCE: The Associated Press

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/16026203.htm?source=rss&channel=dfw_nation

[Eric J in MN]

1. Maybe this is good thing.

Liberals already care about this issue, but maybe more conservatives will respond to the "food security" term than the "hunger" term.

[I Have A Dream]

3. Oh yes, it's all about security with them, isn't it?

:rofl:

[Eric J in MN]

4. From our perspective, Republicans do a bad job with security,

...but I'm sure plenty of Republican voters think they're voting for strong security.

[I Have A Dream]

5. Kick because this is absolutely appalling.

:kick:

[I Have A Dream]

2. This just leaves me speechless. I'm sitting here with my...

mouth agape holding my head in my hands. This is beyond the pale.

They'd better hope that there's no such thing as karma, or they're going to be spending lots of time with "very low food security" at some point in the future.