WASHINGTON -- A growing number of families in the United States are struggling to put food on the table as poverty rises in major cities, a new survey showed on Thursday.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors' 2011 hunger and homelessness survey found all but four of the 29 cities surveyed reported an increase in requests for emergency food assistance during the period between September 2010 and August 2011.
Half of those asking for emergency food assistance were people in families, while 26 percent were employed. The elderly accounted for 19 percent, with the homeless making up the remaining 11 percent.
About 71 percent of cities said their total budget for emergency food purchases had gone up. Across the 29 cities, 27 percent of the people requiring emergency food assistance did not receive it, the survey found...86 percent of the cities, food pantries and emergency kitchens had to reduce the quantities of food people could receive per visit or the amount of food offered per meal.
According to government data, a record 49.1 million Americans were living in poverty in 2010.
During that period, the number of households depending on food stamps - subsidies that help people cover the costs of groceries - soared 16 percent to 13.6 million.
Read on at: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/15/9469846-study-hunger-stalks-us-c...
The U.S. Conference of Mayors' 2011 hunger and homelessness survey found all but four of the 29 cities surveyed reported an increase in requests for emergency food assistance during the period between September 2010 and August 2011.
Half of those asking for emergency food assistance were people in families, while 26 percent were employed. The elderly accounted for 19 percent, with the homeless making up the remaining 11 percent.
About 71 percent of cities said their total budget for emergency food purchases had gone up. Across the 29 cities, 27 percent of the people requiring emergency food assistance did not receive it, the survey found...86 percent of the cities, food pantries and emergency kitchens had to reduce the quantities of food people could receive per visit or the amount of food offered per meal.
According to government data, a record 49.1 million Americans were living in poverty in 2010.
During that period, the number of households depending on food stamps - subsidies that help people cover the costs of groceries - soared 16 percent to 13.6 million.
Read on at: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/15/9469846-study-hunger-stalks-us-c...
