Nearly 700,000 Children Went Hungry in America in 2007

The actual number, 691,000, was the most since 1998, when 716,000 children went hungry. The report, the USDA's annual report on food security, covered about 45,600 households and was "a representative sample of the U.S. civilian population of 118 million households."

In this case, food security is defined as not as keeping food "secure" from say thieves or terrorists, but how "secure" families were in obtaining proper amounts of food.

The report said:

The food security status of the household was assessed based on the number of food-insecure conditions reported (such as being unable to afford balanced meals, cutting the size of meals because there was too little money for food, or being hungry because there was too little money for food).

88.9% of American households were food-secure, meaning they had enough food for their needs. The remaining 11.1% (13 million households), at some time during 2007, had difficulty providing enough food for their entire family. And of these, about 1/3 or 4.7 million (4.1% of all U.S. households) had very low food security, which means that "the food intake of some household members was reduced and their normal eating patterns disrupted."

It should be noted this survey was done prior to the stark economic downturn we now face. Remember also the numbers above are for households, not individuals.

James Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, an anti-hunger group said:

“There’s every reason to think the increases in the number of hungry people will be very, very large based on the increased demand we’re seeing this year at food stamp agencies, emergency kitchens, Women, Infants and Children clinics, really across the entire social service support structure."

A sure bet, if anything is.