This report examines trends in USDA’s food and nutrition assistance programs through fiscal 2009. It also discusses a recent ERS report that examines the prevalence, severity, and characteristics of food insecurity in households with children

One in five Americans participates in at least one of USDA's food and nutrition assistance programs during the year. In fiscal 2005, an estimated 55 percent of USDA's budget supported the programs that provide children and low-income people with access to food, a healthful diet, and nutrition...

USDA administers 15 domestic food assistance programs that serve an estimated 1 in 5 Americans at some point during the year. Each program targets specific populations with different nutritional needs. These programs work individually and in concert to provide a nutritional safety net for...

Expenditures for USDA's 15 food assistance programs totaled $46 billion in fiscal 2004 (October 1, 2003, to September 30, 2004), marking the second consecutive year in which spending exceeded the previous record high. The fiscal 2004 spending level represented a 10-percent increase from the...

Federal expenditures for USDA's food assistance programs totaled almost $54.3 billion in fiscal 2007, over 2 percent more than in the previous fiscal year. This rise marked the seventh consecutive year in which food assistance expenditures increased and the fifth consecutive year in which they...

In this report, the Economic Research Service uses preliminary data from USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to examine trends in U.S. food and nutrition assistance programs through fiscal 2013 (October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013) and ERS data to examine trends in the prevalence and...

The Second Food Security Measurement and Research Conference (23-24, 1999) was co-sponsored by the U. S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service and Economic Research Service and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Center for Health Satistics. The conference...

Food prices across the world rose dramatically between 2006 and 2008. The causes of the price rise were complex, and the event has led to heightened concerns regarding the implications of rising food prices on the prevalence of food insecurity and household welfare, particularly in developing...