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Medical copays reduce health care access in MS prisons; Israel planted explosives in pagers sold to Hezbollah according to official sources; Serving looks with books: Libraries fight 'fast fashion' by lending clothes; Menhaden decline threatens Virginia's ecosystem, fisheries.

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The Teamsters choose not endorse a presidential candidate, county officials in Texas fight back against state moves to limit voter registration efforts and the FBI investigate suspicious packages sent to elections offices in at least seventeen states.

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A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

Creeping Up: Numbers of Hungriest in Massachusetts

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Thursday, September 6, 2012   

BOSTON - Hunger is on the rise across America, and new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that Massachusetts has more households with "low food security," meaning those in which people skip meals regularly or don't eat enough. Since 2006, the Bay State has seen an increase of more than 3.5 percent in households with food insecurity. However, the state is still in the upper ranks in terms of feeding the hungry, compared to others in the deep south, for example.

Pat Baker of the Mass Law Reform Institute says the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) plays a key role in feeding people.

"Any level of food hardship is really unacceptable, particularly in a state that's perceived to be as well off as Massachusetts."

The Food Research and Action Center simultaneously released new poll results showing 79 percent of respondents support spending more federal money or maintaining the same amount to address the problem of hunger, compared to only 17 percent who said the federal government should be spending less.

Baker says the prevailing sentiment in Massachusetts appears in favor of Congress keeping its hands off SNAP.

"Most recently, both Sens. Kerry and Brown, and our entire Massachusetts congressional delegation, opposed cuts to SNAP. We certainly hope that message will be taken to heart in Congress."

Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, says the new polling data suggests some of the people in Washington, D.C., who are calling for cutbacks in SNAP are out of touch with the people they represent.

"American families know what the food stamp program is and what it does. Sometimes the people who are attacking it, using false images of it, don't realize how many of their constituents are on the program."

Nationwide, the states with the highest food insecurity rates are Arkansas and Mississippi.




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