Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced this week that the “USDA” will invest in research, planning, and various hunger relief activities to help end hunger in America. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, also known as the Farm Bill, authorizes $5 million in funding under the new Hunger-Free Communities grants to deliver help to Americans in need.
“Hunger is a problem that the American sense of fairness should not tolerate and American ingenuity can overcome,” said Secretary Vilsack. “That’s why we have set the goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015 and support rapid passage of a strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill that will reduce hunger and improve the health and nutrition of our Nation’s children. Through these new Hunger-Free Community grants, our strong partnerships at the National, State and local levels will be pivotal in providing better access to food and a more healthful diet for our Nation’s most vulnerable.”
Despite record participation in Federal nutrition assistance programs, food insecurity still persists. USDA’s study, Household Food Security in the United States, 2008, reported that 14.6 percent, or 17 million households, were food insecure. These households, at some time during the year, had difficulty providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources.
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