More than 17 million children are now food insecure. This is the highest rate since the United States Department of Agriculture started measuring hunger in 1995.
Between 2007 to 2008--the overall number of people that were food insecure jumped from 36 million to 49 million. The worst of it is that the number of the most vulnerable children--those under the age of 5 that experienced the most severe form of food insecurity--tripled since 2006. This will have lasting effects on their brains and bodies, and it will truncate their chances to succeed in Kindergarten and beyond.
Read the front page Philadelphia Inquirer story about the new hunger rates and what it means for our children.