Jeff Bingaman: “Extreme forms of hunger in American households have virtually been eliminated, in part due to the Nation's…”

“Extreme forms of hunger in American households have virtually been eliminated, in part due to the Nation's nutrition-assistance safety net. Less severe forms of food insecurity and hunger, however, are still found within the United States and remain a cause for concern. The Food Stamp Program provides benefits to low-income people to assist with their purchase of foods that will enhance their nutritional status. Food stamp recipients spend their benefits, in the form of paper coupons or electronic benefits on debit cards, to buy eligible food in authorized retail food stores. Food stamp recipients, or those eligible for food stamps, cross the life cycle. They include individuals of all ages, races and ethnicity in both urban and rural settings. As a result of the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1990, the nutritional state of the American people has been closely monitored at State and local levels. We know that food insecurity is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon which varies through a continuum of successive stages as the condition becomes more severe. As the stage of food insecurity and hunger progresses, the number of affected individuals decreases. It is important for us to identify the stages of food insecurity and hunger as early as possible and, thus, continue to avoid the more severe stages of hunger.”