28 million people -- 1 in 10 of the US population   - are expected to be on  food stamps next year, a figure simiilar to enrolment after the ctastrophic Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2005.

U.S. food prices are expected to go up by  5 percent this year as increasing demand  in rapidly developing countries such as China and India , adverse weather conditions  and the divertion of food crops to make biofuels continues to drive global food prices upwards .

"People don't want to talk about hunger in America because that's not supposed to have happened. Didn't we take care of that a generation or two ago?" said Kevin McGuire, Food Stamp director for Maryland. "Well, not really." The number of beneficiaries jumped 12 percent in Maryland from a year ago.

Food stamp administrators are not only seeing  more people apply for relief  , they're seeing more applications from  the working poor, people whose low-wage jobs still leave them eligible under the program's income criteria.

"Having a job isn't enough anymore. Having two or three jobs isn't enough anymore," said Marcia Paulson, spokeswoman for Great Plains Food Bank in North Dakota, where nearly half the households on food stamps have at least one adult with a job.

The rising costs of housing, food and gas are really making life really difficult.

Program officials are quick to stress that food stamps were never intended to make up a family's entire food budget, and point to other programs that can help needy families -- school lunches, after-school programs, and food banks.

"We firmly believe that no American should go hungry," said Kate Houston, a deputy undersecretary at USDA.

Source : Reuters 

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