This story today from the AP, with the inaccurate title, “Report: Fewer People in U.S. Are Hungry,” is emblematic of the banal, bureaucratic assaults on decency lobbed by the current administration at every level, every day. The report, from the Department of Agriculture, is, according to the AP, “drawing criticism, this time because analysts decided not to use the word “hunger” to describe how hungry people are.”
Instead, in the spirit of the “Clear Skies Initiative,” the report coins some new bureaucratese:
In the report, the terms “low food security” and “very low food security” replace the old descriptions of “food insecurity without hunger” and “food insecurity with hunger.” The change was recommended by the National Academies, which advise the government on science and medical issues. (AP)
Got that? “Very low food security” = “food insecurity with hunger.” Now let’s look at the numbers.
The report found:
_ There were more people with very low food security — those who are worst off. The number was 10.8 million, up from 10.7 million in 2004.
_ There were 24 million people with low food security, down from 27.5 million in 2004. (AP)
So, while the number of people with low food security (i.e., struggling but getting assistance) has decreased, the number of people who are actually hungry has, in fact, increased.
As an example, this Massachusetts study released Tuesday reports that hunger in that state has increased from 8% in 2002 to 18% today.
“Hunger in Massachusetts is not caused by a food shortage,” said Andrew Schiff , the group’s assistant director. “We have plenty of food for everyone. The problem is the combination of poverty and the high cost of living.”
Schiff said statewide statistics tend to overlook pockets of poverty. In those 35 cities and towns with higher concentrations of hunger — including Boston, Lynn, Springfield, and Worcester — its prevalence is six times greater than the state average and one out of every three children lives in a family that struggles to provide food, the report states. (Boston Globe)
Hunger in America, and the Bush administration’s solution is to eliminate the word.
~Stef
