Study: 1 in 8 get help at food banks - USATODAY.com: One in eight Americans — 37 million — received emergency food help last year, up 46% from 2005, the nation's largest hunger-relief group reports today.
Children are hit particularly hard, according to the report by Feeding America, a network of 203 food banks nationwide. One in five children, 14 million, received food from soup kitchens, food pantries and other agencies, up from 9 million in 2005, the year of the group's last major survey.
'This is a crisis,' says Vicki Escarra, president of Feeding America. 'People need to understand that this is America, and we're seeing this kind of need.' She says the report is her group's most comprehensive study on emergency food distribution.
