A new report was released last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) stating that 3.8 million households with children were “food insecure” at some point during 2013. "Food insecure" means that these households were unable to provide adequate, nutritious food for their children at times during the year.

As we know, many parents try to protect their children from hunger by skipping meals themselves and sacrificing their own health and well-being so their children can eat. But the USDA report also showed that 360,000 households were considered to have very low food security—so severe that parents reported that children were hungry, skipped a meal, or did not eat for a whole day because there was not enough money to put food on the table.

The media and politicians like to talk about how far we have come in the economic recovery. But the USDA report shows that the persistence of high food insecurity, especially among families, proves that the economic recovery has failed to reach many low-income families and too many Americans are still struggling to put food on the table.

The fact that 14.3% of American households are suffering from hunger further shows how important it is to protect anti-hunger programs like SNAP/food stamps, school-based breakfast and lunches, and WIC. These programs are literally life savers for families that are having trouble making ends meet.

Our policy partners have produced a number of resources on this topic that you may find interesting:

• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) Blog: New “Food Insecurity” Figures Show Recovery Has Yet to Reach Many

• Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) chart breaking the hunger data down by state

• Bread for the World analysis: Americans Struggling with Hunger Left Behind in Economic Recovery

MomsRising will be discussing the hunger data, along with data that will be released later this month on poverty and healthcare, during our October 1st #WellnessWed Tweetchat at 2pm ET/11am PT. Join us by tweeting @MomsRising and using the hashtag #WellnessWed on October 1st!

Do you have a story about how your family is or has struggled with hunger? If so, MomsRising would like to hear from you. You can share your story here: https://www.momsrising.org/member_stories/topic/no-child-should-go-to-bed-hungry/.