McClatchy Newspapers moved a story for Sunday release that calls Memphis "the hunger capital of the United States." That distinction was based on a survey co-sponsored that found that "26 percent of people in greater Memphis couldn't afford to buy the food their families needed at some point over the previous 12
months, the highest rate in the nation."
The story also points out an important change in the way that food banks operate. Now, instead of getting surplus food from manufacturers, they are increasingly having to purchase the food that they supply to the needy.
And here's a sobering prospect as the economy improves in some aspects:
The story also points out an important change in the way that food banks operate. Now, instead of getting surplus food from manufacturers, they are increasingly having to purchase the food that they supply to the needy.
And here's a sobering prospect as the economy improves in some aspects:
"What we know from studying earlier recessions is that unemployment is a lagging indicator ... and poverty lags unemployment by one or two years at a minimum," said Elaine Waxman, the director of social policy research for Feeding America. "We're not likely to get back to the poverty rates we saw pre-recession for at least the next 10 years."
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