Feeling hungry? Not if you work at the USDA. When noon arrives around the USDA offices, folks there begin feeling that tug of "low food security" in the belly. A recent USDA report titled "Household Food Security" has done away with the term "hunger." Reaching a new low in double-speak, the USDA has determined that the estimated 35 million Americans who go hungry on a regular basis, are actually experiencing "very low food security." To make matters even less secure for them, this past November the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the U.S. government has been cutting food-assistance programs in recent years, and the 2007 federal budget may attempt to "zero out" the Commodity Supplemental Food Program - a USDA initiative that distributes food to the young and elderly who are hungry (or, to be technically accurate: coping with food access issues). America's Second Harvest (ASH) may have to take up the slack. ASH is the largest charitable hunger-relief organization in the U.S. Every year, this nationwide food bank network works with restaurants, hotels, and other organizations to distribute donated food to more than 25 million low-income people who fall into that food security category once known as "hungry." In addition to making good use out of food that would otherwise be discarded, America's Second Harvest hold a 3-star rating from CharityNavigator.org, and spends 98 percent of its funds on actual program expenses. If you'd like to help offset low food security issues for those in need, you can find more information about America's Second Harvest at secondharvest.org.
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