The numbers in Minnesota are even more telling if you go back a few years. There are 10,000 fewer students in Minnesota schools than there were in 2002, yet there are 65,000 more students on free and reduced lunch.

The data also show that increased poverty is universal. Edina, widely considered one of the state’s most affluent communities, has one of the lowest rates of poverty in Minnesota.

Farmers, supermarkets and truckers across the country are losing billions of dollars in business because California, Texas, Arizona and New York City are using procedures that discourage people eligible for food stamps from applying for them, according to a key USDA official.

AG Week

“These are really troubled times and people maybe just need help for just a short period,” said Colleen Moriarty, executive director of Hunger Solutions Minnesota. “We don’t want to throw people into abject poverty forever.”

STRIB

Bastions of the middle class, Twin Cities suburbs are seeing financial pain spreading quietly among their residents. They now have more poor people than the core cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

STRIB

Cooney thinks a bill will be produced after healthcare is out of the way. He said the Congressional Hunger Center advises anti-hunger coalitions on these issues and some organizations, particularly Feeding America and the Food Research Action Center, are serious about getting a bill passed.

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that it will be developing an alternative way to measure poverty. This new method will better reflect the realities facing struggling families and ways in which current government programs can help them to get back on their feet.

Human Services Committee – More Minnesotans would be eligible for the federal Food Support program under a bill held over for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill.

Session Daily

The events and legislation behind an aid program’s beginnings, controversies and recent revival.

NYT

“I’ve seen a remarkable shift,” said Senator Richard G. Lugar, an Indiana Republican and prominent food stamp supporter. “People now see that it’s necessary to have a strong food stamp program.”

NYT

More Americans are going hungry in hard times and are increasingly dependent on private charity, according to a new study by Feeding America, a national network of food banks.