The number of American families struggling to keep food on the table jumped by 4 million last year, bringing the total to 17 million households, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (usda) survey published November 16. The surge in hunger is attributed to job losses and poverty resulting from the economic downturn.

These “food insecure” households comprise 14.6 percent of all U.S. households, and equate to around 49 million total people.

Over a third of the strapped families said their struggle was so serious that the lack of food disrupted eating patterns for some family members.

These rates are the highest since the usda first began monitoring domestic food security in 1995.

McClatchy reported:

These families make up 5.7 percent of U.S. households, again the highest rate since 1995, up from 4.1 percent and 4.7 million households in 2007.In a statement, President Barack Obama called the report unsettling and said it was particularly troubling that there were more than 500,000 families in which children experienced hunger multiple times last year.Obama said his administration was “committed to reversing the trend of rising hunger” and that restoring job growth would “help relieve the economic pressures that make it difficult for parents to put a square meal on the table each day.”U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the situation would be far worse for many more Americans were it not for food pantries and federal food assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.Vilsack said the findings were consistent with the nation’s dire economic climate and that next year’s report probably would show a worsening situation due to continued job losses and rising unemployment.Vilsack said the findings from the annual usda survey of 44,000 households were a “wake-up call for America.”

These are only the earliest tremors in a prophesied coming food shortage of catastrophic proportions.

Request your own free copy of our booklet The Wonderful World Tomorrow—What It Will Be Like to learn about the only true hope mankind has for becoming part of the solution.