Today the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service released its annual report on food security in the United States. In 2013, more than 49 million people in the U.S., including more than 16 million children, were living in food insecure households, meaning that they did not have access to enough food for an active and healthy life. This includes 17 million people living in households that were very low food secure, a more severe form of food insecurity.

The USDA report described virtually no change in the food insecurity rate since 2012. As in 2012, one in seven households, including one in five households with children, was still lacking adequate food in 2013.

Dr. Mariana Chilton is an associate professor and director of the Center for Hunger-Free Communities in the Drexel University School of Public Health

“It’s unconscionable to fail our children this way,” said Mariana…