More than 50 million Americans lived in households that had a hard time getting enough to eat at least at some point during 2009. That includes 17 million children, and at least a half-million of those children faced the direst conditions. They had inadequate diets, or even missed meals, because their families didn't have enough money for food.
"Household food insecurity remains a serious problem across the United States," says Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon.
He says there's a reason the hunger numbers hit a record high in 2008 and stayed there in 2009: a struggling economy.
