More than 1 in 7 American households had trouble getting food at one time or another last year because of a lack of money or other resources, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday.
The agency said that 14.9 percent of U.S. households, or 17.9 million families, “had difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources.” This is an increase compared to 14.5 percent in 2010.
It added that 5.7 percent of all U.S. households “had very low food insecurity.”
“In these households, the food intake of some household members was reduced and normal eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year due to limited resources,” the USDA said. In 2010, 5.4 percent of American households endured high food insecurity.
At the same time, food stamp use in the United States has increased to a record 46.7 million in June, the Bloomberg news agency reported. The figure represents a 3.3 percent increase over the same period a year earlier.
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