Obama decries rising U.S. hunger

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama expressed concern Monday about a report that hunger "rose significantly" in the United States last year.

The White House released a prepared statement from Obama, who was in Beijing meeting with Chinese leaders. Obama said in part, "I look forward to working with Congress to pass a strong child nutrition bill that will help children get the healthy meals they need to grow and succeed -- and help keep America competitive in the decades to come."

Obama cited the new report.

"As American families prepare to gather for Thanksgiving, we received an unsettling report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that found that hunger rose significantly last year," the president said. "This trend was already painfully clear in many communities across our nation, where food stamp applications are surging and food pantry shelves are emptying."

Obama said it is "particularly troubling that there were more than 500,000 families in which a child experienced hunger multiple times over the course of the year."

The president said his administration "is committed to reversing the trend of rising hunger. The first task is to restore job growth, which will help relieve the economic pressures that make it difficult for parents to put a square meal on the table each day. But we are also taking targeted steps to prevent Americans from experiencing hunger. Earlier this year, we extended help to those hit hardest by this economic downturn by boosting SNAP benefits."

A central part of the administration's Recovery Act was a large increase in nutrition assistance benefits for the 36.5 million, half of them children, who participate in the USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly the Food Stamp Program, officials said.