Colorado was one of 13 states where the percentage of households struggling with hunger dropped over the three years ending in 2008 despite a surge nationally, according to a federal report released Monday.
Still, one in eight Colorado households had to deal with hunger issues, and the problem has intensified in 2009 with the recession, officials surmised based on anecdotal evidence.
“This past year has been a very difficult year for food insecurity,” said Gwen Vogelzang, spokeswoman for the Food Bank of the Rockies.
The report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the percentage of households nationally that struggled with hunger in 2008, as defined by food insecurity, hit its highest rate since 1995, rising from 11.1 percent to 14.6 percent of all households.
However, the report found that the rates in Colorado, measured over three years from 2006 through 2008, fell to 11.6 percent of all households from 12 percent in the 2003-through-2005 time period. Only 12 other states saw their overall rate fall. The department uses three-year intervals for states to increase the sample size, though the nation as a whole is measured annually.
The report also looked at households dealing with the most acute hunger problems and found that the percentage in Colorado rose from 3.9 percent to 5 percent between the two time periods.
“It’s good news, bad news,” said Kathy Underhill, executive director of the Colorado Coalition to End Hunger.
She said the overall decrease was encouraging and probably the result of a stable economy during part of the three-year period. However, she said, the increase in serious cases reflects acute nutrition problems, such as adult family members skipping meals so their children could eat.
She said the report pre-dates the recession.
“The reports we’re getting is the number of people needing food has gone up 30 to 40 percent this year,” Underhill said.
Burt Hubbard: 303-954-5107 or bhubbard@denverpost.com
