The persistence of hunger in America
CBSN
For some 30 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has released an annual report on the number of Americans living with food insecurity. The Trump administration ended that report, calling it "redundant" and "politicized." But getting rid of the data doesn't erase the problem – or the desire to fix it. Community Food Share, Colorado In:
For some 30 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has released an annual report on the number of Americans living with food insecurity. The Trump administration ended that report, calling it "redundant" and "politicized." But getting rid of the data doesn't erase the problem – or the desire to fix it.
At the Community Food Share near Boulder, Colorado, there is a traffic jam of shopping carts. Thirty-three-year-old Shannon Patrick waited patiently. She knows the routine. She's a reluctant regular here.
With the way her 12-year-old is growing, she says her cart of goods may last a week.
Patrick is a single mother of three, working full time as a behavioral technician, helping kids with autism. But despite her profession and her education, she barely gets by on her $2,000 a month salary. Tack on rent, student loans, and clothes for the kids, and there's very little left for food.
"I thought that if I got my bachelor's degree, if I got my master's degree, that that would open up so many doors," she said. "I wouldn't have to rely on the government. But it just seems like it's not like that."













