Oregon listed as 3rd-hungriest state
Friday, November 21, 2008 11:12 AM PST
EUGENE (AP) — The staff at FOOD for Lane County’s Dining Room feeds about 350 people four nights a week. Last year at this time it was 250.
So staff members were not surprised at a new survey by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that shows Oregon being the third-hungriest state in the nation. But the reasons are far from clear.
In addition to longer lines at the Eugene facility, requests for emergency food boxes are soaring, the Oregon Food Bank Network said Wednesday.
The USDA measures hunger rates by assessing food security, defined as access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.
Selected households were surveyed about things like skipping meals, scaling back portions or running out of food. Between 2005 and 2007 12.4 percent of Oregon households described a lack of food security. Of those, nearly half, 5.5 percent of the state’s total households, reported very low food security, meaning household members changed eating patterns or ate less than usual because they were out of money for food.
