Iowans go hungry in land of plenty

[JoFerret]

http://www.dailygate.com/articles/2004/04/05/news/news3.txt

DES MOINES (AP) -- Hunger is gaining ground in Iowa, the state that is first in the nation in the production of pork, corn and eggs and second in soybeans and red meat production.

Here in the heartland -- and the home of World Food Prize -- nearly every group working with low-income Iowans has felt it.

The number of calls to a hot line from people needing food jumped from 607 in 2002 to 974 in 2003.

The Des Moines Area Religious Council's Emergency Food Pantry sites served a record 34,264 central Iowans in 2003. The number of Iowans receiving emergency food assistance from pantries and soup kitchens leapt from 721,869 in 2000 to 934,382 in 2002.

Iowa's hunger problem is not the bloated-belly starvation you see in Third World countries. Nor is it the big-city dig-through-trash-bins type. This is heartland-style hunger - hidden, embarrassed and more pervasive than Iowans may suspect.
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