2014 UNITED STATES

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(MERCED, CA) Vidal Cota is an immigrant farm worker from Los Mochis, Sinaloa. He cleans the plastic tubes used for drip irrigation from a watermelon field, after the melons have been harvested. Photo: David Bacon  

Hard winter for California farmworkers  David Bacon New American Media December 22, 2014

A provision in the federal spending bill prohibits lowering salt limits for school lunches. Photo: Nabil K. Mark/Centre Daily Times, via Associated Press

In final spending bill, salty food and belching cows are the winners  Robert Pear New York Times December 14, 2014 Congress to nutritionists: Don't talk about the environment Dan Charles National Public Radio December 15, 2014

Ed Green clears a foggy windshield at the beginning of his shift with the North Carolina Department of Transportation in Winston-Salem. Green works several jobs but still doesn't earn as much as he used to as a bus driver in New York. Photo: Bonnie Jo Mount/Washington Post

Why America's middle class is lost
The devalued American worker
The college trap that keeps people poor (Series) Jim Tankersley Washington Post December 14-16, 2014

At Campo Sacramento in Guasave, Sinaloa, barbed wire runs along the perimeter, and arrivals and departures are controlled around the clock. Photo: Don Bartletti

Hardship on Mexico's farms, a bounty for US tables Richard Marosi Photography & video by Don Bartletti Los Angeles Times December 8, 2014

How the Midwest food and agriculture sector relies on immigrant labor Stephanie Mercier Chicago Council on Global Affairs December 9, 2014

House oks Feed the Future authority Philip Brasher Agri-Pulse December 10, 2014

A neighborhood of concentrated poverty in Baltimore. Photo: Linda Davidson/Washington Post

The vast majority of poor neighborhoods aren’t gentrifying. They’re stuck in poverty.  Emily Badger Washington Post December 5, 2014

Unsteady incomes keep millions behind on bills. Nearly seven million people working part time would prefer full-time jobs but can’t find them Patricia Cohen New York Times December 3, 2014

Food assistance needs remain high Brynne Keith-Jennings Center on Budget and Policy Priorities November 24, 2014

This long-abandoned lot in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago was once home to a bustling business district. Now Whole Foods is planning to build a store here. Photo: Warren Skalski/Washington Post

Why Whole Foods is moving into one of the poorest neighborhoods in Chicago Emily Badger Washington Post November 14, 2014  

Food assistance needs remain high Brynne Keith-Jennings Center on Budget and Policy Priorities November 24, 2014

Why wage growth disparity tells the story of America's half-formed economic recovery Chico Harlan Washington Post Novermber 21, 2014

Child homelessness in U.S. hit all-time high in recent years, new report says David Crary and Lisa Leff Washington Post November 17, 2014

Food service workers demonstrated in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Photo: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Federally contracted food workers strike over wages Elena Schneider New York Times November 13, 2014

Nation's first soda tax passes in Berkeley, fails in San Francisco Lydia O'Connor Huffington Post November 5, 2014

US families that receive Supplemental Nutrtion Program assistance must balance multiple priorities to achieve a healthful diet Lisa Mancino and Joanne Guthrie USDA Economic Research Service November 3, 2014

Fort Lauderdale police arresting 90-year-old man for feeding homeless people. Photo: NBC

Fort Lauderdale arrests 90-year-old man, 2 pastors for feeding homeless. "Drop that plate right now!"  Elizabeth Chuck NBC News November 5, 2014

What you eat in the first year of your life can affect what you crave for the rest of it. Photo: Paul Sakuma/AP Photo

The stark difference between what poor babies and rich babies eat: Poor children often are fed foods that help establish long-lasting, unhealthful eating patterns Roberto A Ferdman Washington Post November 4, 2014 See more nutrition stories

Election day payday: Five states vote to raise minimum wage Angus Loten Wall Street Journal November 5, 2014

Media reporting on migration rarely includes voices of migrants and misses connection to food security, new research reveals Hunger Notes October 26, 2014 See the full report (10 page PDF file).

Food Tank and the James Beard Foundation present the 2014 Good Food Org Guide Food Tank October 26, 2014  

Report: 21 US cities restrict sharing food with homeless people Deepashri Varadharajan Al Jazeera October 20, 2014  See full report (29 page PDF)

The bottom 90 percent are poorer today than they were in 1987 Matt O'Brien Washington Post October 22, 2014

Hondurans flee violence, then are deported by US to face more, Human Rights Watch charges Pamela Constable Washington Post October 16, 2014

Family farms produce 80 percent of world's food, speculators seek land Chris Arsenault Reuters October 16, 2014

Iowa's role in feeding China Des Moines Register October 16, 2014

Pentagon signals security risks of climate change: terrorism, infectious disease, global poverty and food shortages Coral Davenport New York Times October 13, 2014  See more environment and hunger stories

How school lunch became the latest political batttleground Nicholas Confessore New York Times October 7, 2014

New hunger figures show millions of Americans continue to struggle Bread for the World October 3, 2014

14.3 percent of US households were food insecure in 2013; percentage down slightly from 2011 Alisha Colman-Jensen Economic Research Service, USDA October 3, 2014  New hunger figures show millions of Americans continue to struggle Bread for the World October 3, 2014

Feed the Future legislation introduced in Congress Hunger Notes September 30, 2014 New USAID nutrition strategy reviewed at Washington meeting Lane Vanderslice Hunger Notes September 19, 2014 See more development assistance stories

Poverty fell and health coverage improved in 2013, but economic recovery is slow to reach many Arloc Sherman, Danilo Trisi, and Matt Broaddus Center for Budget and Policy Priorities September 22, 2014 Number of children living in poverty drops sharply, Census Bureau says Robert Pear New York Times September 16, 2014  See full report: Income and Poverty in the United States 2013 (72 page PDF file)

Why temporary assistance may not be enough for the neediest of families Jeff Guo Washington Post September 15, 2014

Patricia Brown walks down the sidewalk on her way home after getting off the bus from the offices of the Center for Workforce Innovation in Richmond. The CWI is a city effort designed to match people with jobs in the Richmond area. Her blue folder holds copies of her resume. Photo:Timothy C. Wright/Washington Post

The danger of being pushed off public assistance: For America's poor, the security of public benefits can outweigh the risks of a low-paying, uncertain job Tina Griego Washington Post September 14, 2014

Trumpeter swans are among the species that, by 2050, are not expected to be able to live in most of their current territory, according to a report. Photo: Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

Climate change will disrupt half of America's bird species, study says Felicity Barringer New York Times September 8, 2014

America's growing food inequality problem Roberto Ferdman Washington Post September 2, 2014

Guadalupe Salazar, a McDonald’s cashier who says her paychecks were missing overtime wages. Photo: Peter DaSilva/New York Times

More workers are claiming 'wage theft' Steven Greenhouse New York Times August 31, 2014

A homeless woman on a bus bench on Broadway in Oakland, California got a bag of food and a blanket from Vinny Pannizzo, of Mission for the Homeless. Photo: David Bacon

Living on the streets of Oakland. The Great Recession may be over, but every night people are sleeping on benches or in makeshift shelters. Here are a few of their stories. David Bacon East Bay Express August 6, 2014 See more at US hunger images and stories

The changing face of temporary employment Steven Greenhouse New York Times August 31, 2014

Dante Washington is employed, has a degree and his own home in Baltimore. He defied the statistics of a 25-year-long research project that was turned into a book "The Long Shadow" which centers on children growing up in poverty -stricken areas of Baltimore. Photo: Linda Davidson/Washington Post

What your 1st-grade life says about the rest of it Emily Badger Washington Post August 30, 2014

The GMO fight ripples down the food chain: Facing consumer pressure, more companies are jettisoning GMOs from their foods Annie Gasparro Wall Street Journal August 8, 2014

Separate entrances at 40 Riverside Boulevard on the Upper West Side will lead to its luxury condominiums and its affordable-housing units. Photo: Ángel Franco/The New York Times

On the upper West Side of New York City, a house divided by income New York Times July 25, 2014

Don't think Obama has reduced inequality? These numbers prove that he has Zachary A. Goldfarb Washington Post July 23, 2014

Anita Pointon shows where the water has to soak over to in order to reach a bed of corn seeds. Photo: Lydia DePillis/The Washington Post

Drier than the Dust Bowl: waiting for relief in rural America. As wide swaths of rural America suffer through historic drought, they're being left further behind. Lydia DePillis Washington Post July 21, 2014

Cash crops with dividends: Financiers buying up farmland and selling it in the form of securities to investors Alexandra Stevenson New York Times July 21, 2014

Neonicotinoids: A reason millions of bees are dying Terrence McCoy Washington Post July 10, 2014 The case for spider conservation: They keep pests from devouring humans' food supply Brian Palmer Washington Post July 21, 2014

Rhonda Gibson tries to crack a smile with an ice pack on her face after she got a tooth pulled and was still feeling some pain. She's from Coeburn, Va. and has no dental insurance. Photo: Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post

At a huge free medical clinic in Southwest Virginia, misery that shouldn't exist Petula Dvorak Washington Post July 18, 2014

Children do work at a school in the violent Chamelecon neighborhood of San Pedro Sula in Honduras. In Chamelecon, more than 300 houses have been abandoned, and military police in body armor patrol day and night on Honda dirt bikes. The two main gangs, 18th Street and MS-13, have fought over the area for years, commandeering houses and demanding that residents pay a war tax. “They bleed you,” said Alvin Rolando Baide, 34, who grew up in the neighborhood. “They demand 80 or 90 percent of your salary.” Photo: Joshua Partlow/The Washington Post

Honduran child migrants leave home because of poverty and violence Joshua Partlow Washington Post July 15, 2014

Neonicotinoids: A reason millions of bees are dying Terrence McCoy Washington Post July 10, 2014 The case for spider conservation: They keep pests from devouring humans’ food supply Brian Palmer Washington Post July 21, 2014  Maryland governor, Obama aides spar over unaccompanied immigrant children Jenna Johnson Washington Post July 16, 2014

USAID, partners target preventable deaths. New efforts unveiled to save millions of women, children Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church July 11, 2014

Can America learn to love misshapen veggies? An ex-Trader Joe's exec's plan to reduce food waste and feed the hungry Elizabeth Segran The Atlantic July 1, 2014

What kept food security from improving after the recession? Alisha Coleman-Jensen Economic Research Service, US Department of Agriculture July 1, 2014

Scott Newman, center, manager of the Boloco burrito restaurant in Concord, N.H., said the above-average pay enabled him to pick from among many talented job applicants. Photo: Andrea Morales/ New York Times

Paying employees to stay, not to go: Boloco and Shake Shack offer above average pay Steven Greenhouse and Stephanie Strom New York Times July 4, 2014

Veronica Maz was involved in the creation of the organizations So Others Might Eat, House of Ruth and Martha’s Table in the District. (Fred Sweets/The Washington Post)

Veronica Maz, helped start 3 DC social service agencies, dies at 89 Adam Bernstein Washington Post July 1, 2014

Judy Vargas, 28, with her son Isaac, 5, lives in a trailer with her three children, her grandmother, and at times other relatives in Gardendale, a colonia near Cotulla, Tex. Photo: Nicole Bengiveno/New York Times

Boom meets bust in Texas: Atop a sea of oil, poverty digs in Manny Fernandez and Clifford Krauss New York Times June 29, 2014 See associated slide show:  Poverty endures in a Texas colonia Nicole Bengiveno New York Times June 29, 2014  Also see US hunger images and stories

The places they'll go: Nuns working on the margins Catherine O'Connell-Cahill US Catholic June 2014

 

Report urges US commitment to addressing impact of climate change on global food security Hunger Notes June 13, 2014  See Hunger Notes special report on environment and hunger

US finally recoups the nearly 9 million jobs lost during the recession; unemployment holds steady at 6.3 percent Ylan Q Mui Washington Post June 6, 2014

Mayor Ed Murray of Seattle, right, after the City Council approved a minimum wage that is more than double the federal minimum. The $15 rate is the highest among the nation’s big cities. Photo: Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

Minimum wage: who makes it? Jared Bernstein New York Times June 9, 2014 Seattle approves $15 minimum wage, setting new standard for big cities Kirk Johnson New York Times June 2, 2014 Cities are passing higher minimum wages – and leaving the suburbs further behind Emily Badger Washington Post June 10, 2014  Michigan joins move to increase hourly wage Monica Davey and Kirk Johnson New York Times May 28, 2014

Tereza Sedgwick in the kitchen of her Bartlett, Ohio, home. Living in a borrowed house with no water, she uses tap water from jugs for brushing teeth and other chores.  Photo: Sarah L Vosin/Washington Post

Opportunity's knocks: Tereza Sedgwick is seeing the economy from the bottom up, where the fastest-growing job in America, nursing aide, is also one of the hardest Eli Saslow Washington Post May 31, 2014 Also see US hunger images and stories

House committee votes to allow schools to opt out of nutritional program Ron Nixon New York Times May 29, 2014

Michigan joins move to increase hourly wage Monica Davey and Kirk Johnson New York Times May 28, 2014

Immigrants from more than 30 countries recently became American citizens at the local headquarters for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service in Irving, Texas. Happy Muigai, center, originally from Kenya, during the citizenship ceremony. Photo: Todd Heisler/New York Times

The way North: a day by day journey by two reporters up Interstate 35  from Laredo, Tex., to Duluth, Minn., chronicling how the middle of America is being changed by immigration  Damien Cave and Todd Heisler New York Times May 2014

Great Society at 50: LBJ’s Job Corps will cost taxpayers $1.7 billion this year. Does it work? David A Fahrenthold Washington Post  May 19, 2014  The Great Society at 50 Karen Tumulty Washington Post May 17, 2014

Jobless contend with weight gain as they search for work Michael S Rosenwald Washington Post May 11, 2014

Climate change study finds US is already widely affected Justin Gillis New York Times May 6, 2014 Rising seas (photographs of vulnerable US and international locations) Coral Davenport and photographs by Kadir Van Lohuizen New York Times May 2014

Tammie Hagen-Noey, in her bedroom at a group home in Richmond, Va., earns $7.25 an hour at a local McDonald’s. Photo: Drew Angerer for The New York Times

Changed life of the poor: Better off but far behind Annie Lowerie New York Times April 30, 2014

Workers harvest tomatoes in a field owned by Pacific Tomato Growers, a partner in the Fair Food Program. Photo: Richard Perry/The New York Times. See slide show

In Florida tomato fields, a penny buys progress Steven Greenhouse New York Times April 24, 2014 

The American middle class is no longer the world's richest, and the poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans David Leonhardt and Kevin Quealy New York Times April 22, 2014

Emalee Short played with her dog outside her grandparents’ home in Hensley, W.Va., in long-struggling McDowell County. Photo: Travis Dove/New York Times

Fifty years into the War on Poverty, hardship hits back Trip Gabriel New York Times April 20, 2014  Also see US hunger images and stories

"Since returning from Afghanistan, Derric Winters had tried to replace the war by working construction, roughnecking in the oil fields and enrolling in community college. He had tried divorce and remarriage; alcohol and drugs; biker gangs and street racing; therapy appointments and trips to a shooting range for what he called “recoil therapy.” He had tried driving two hours to the hospital in Laramie, proclaiming himself in need of help and checking himself in. On this day, he was on his way to try what he considered the most unlikely solution yet: a 9-to-5 office job as a case worker helping troubled veterans — even though he hated office work and had so far failed to help himself." Photo: Washington Post

Ugh. I miss it. Transitioning from military to civilian life and from camaraderie to isolation  Eli Saslow Washington Post April 19, 2014 Also see US hunger images and stories

Breeder Alan Krivanek of Monsanto Corporation checks on tomato plants. Photo: Max Whittaker/Washington Post

Trait by trait, plant scientists swiftly weed out bad seeds through marker-assisted breeding Adrian Higgins Washington Post April 16, 2014

The relationship between single mothers and poverty is not as simple as it seems Emily Badger Washington Post April 10, 2014 See full report

Student Paul Vaughn, 22, poses for a portrait on the campus of George Mason University on Thursday in Fairfax. Vaughn has struggled with living expenses, including food costs. Photo: Matt McClain/The Washington Post

More college students battle hunger as education and living costs rise Tara Bahrampour Washington Post April 9, 2014

What we know about how poor neighborhoods become wealthier: very few of them do and many of those that do are in cities with substantial income growth Emily Badger Washington Post April 9, 2014  See Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland report

What economic recovery looks like: In rural Ohio, Perham Egg wants to hire 40 people at its new factory. But in some places, matching the jobs to the job-seekers can prove a struggle. Photo: Washington Post

The recovery puzzle: A new factory in Ohio struggles to match jobs to job-seekers Monica Hesse Washington Post April 5, 2014 Hiring rises, but number of jobless stays high Nelson D. Schwartz New York Times April 4, 2014

Here’s why the gender wage gap hasn’t budged in a decade Ylan Mui Washington Post March 17, 2014 Also see The truth about the pay gap New York Times April 9, 2014

Income gap, meet the longevity gap Annie Lowrey New York Times March 15, 2013

Worker on the Nissan truck assembly line.  Photo: Nissan/Washington Post

This is what a job in the US’s new manufacturing industry looks like—half the pay, working for a temp agency, no sick days, but still it's a job Lydia DePillis Washington Post March 9, 2014

Youths’ suicides rattle Indian country: The silence that has shrouded suicide in Indian country is being pierced by growing alarm at the sheer numbers of young Native Americans taking their own lives — more than three times the national average, and up to 10 times the average on some reservations. Photo: Washington Post

The hard lives—and high suicide rate—of Native American children on reservations Sari Horowitz Washington Post March 10, 2013

Obesity rate for young children plummets 43 percent in a decade Sabrina Tavernise New York Times February 25, 2014

Industry analysts say the institutional share of US farmland ownership is rising quickly. Photo: Bigstock

Half of US farmland being eyed by private equity Carey L Biron Inter Press Service February 19, 2014

Spending on violence in the United States Daniel Hyslop Economists for Peace and Security February 19, 2014

Minimum-wage hike would reduce poverty, but might cost 500,000 jobs, Congressional Budget Ofice reports Zachary A Goldfarb Washington Post February 18, 2014

"Everything is paid for, and that is a luxury in itself." Jackie Heintzelman, who said keeping up with bills was easier since she started driving from Idaho to work at the Little Palomino, a restaurant and bar in Ontario, Ore. Photo: Kyle Green/New York Times

Crossing borders and changing lives, lured by higher state minimum wages Kirk Johnson New York Times February 15, 2014

State park rangers burned weeds on the exposed lake bed of the Rye Patch Reservoir in Nevada, which was at 3.5 percent capacity amid a drought that has caused the worst water shortage the region has faced in more than a century.

Obama to propose $1 billion to prepare for climate change in US Zachary A Goldfarb and Lenny Bernstein Washington Post February 14, 2014 Severe drought has western US fearing worst Adam Nagourney and Ian Lovett New York Times February 1, 2014  See HN special report on environment and hunger

Obesity found to gain its hold in earliest years Gina Kolata New York Times January 29, 2014 See more nutrition and health stories

Farm bill on verge of passage after a long three years of haggling in Congress Ed O’Keefe and Kimberly Kindy Washington Post February 4, 2014 Farm bill compromise will change programs and reduce spending. Bill must now be voted on by both House and Senate. Ron Dixon New York Times January 27, 2014  The 2014 farm bill nutrition title includes bipartisan improvements to SNAP while excluding harsh House provisions Ed Bolen, Dorothy Rosenbaum, and Stacy Dean Center on Budget and Policy Priorities January 28, 2014

The new face of food stamps: working-age Americans. As US wages stagnate, food stamp use growing fastest among workers with some college training.  Hope Yen Associated Press January 27, 2014

Obama to raise minimum wage for government contract workers Zachary A Goldfarb Washington Post January 27, 2014

Proposal to raise tip wages resisted Steven Greenhouse New York Times January 26, 2013

Low wage workers have far more education than they did in in 1968, but they make far less Lawrence Mishel Economic Policy Institute January 23, 2014

In memory of Martin Luther King
Heaven will wecome you, Dr. King
Big Maybelle
Why (The King of Love is Dead)
Nina Simone
(song in tribute, written immediately after MLK's assassination on April 4, 1968)

Economic mobility hasn’t changed in a half-century in America, economists declare Jim Tankersly Washington Post January 22, 2014

Christopher and Melinda were participants in a program, which the state of Maryland will be expanding this month, designed to strengthen families. Photo courtesy CFUF

Dead broke, not deadbeat: Baltimore rethinks welfare policy Alia Malek Al Jazeera America January 15, 2014

One in three Americans slipped below the poverty line between 2009 and 2011 Brad Plumer Washington Post January 8, 2014 See full Census Bureau report (32 page pdf file)

‘Great Society’ agenda led to great—and lasting—philosophical divide Karen Tumulty Washington Post January 8, 2013 50 years later, war on poverty is a mixed bag (analysis) Annie Lowery New York Times January 4, 2014 Graphic: 50 years of poverty Alicia Parlapiano New York Times January 4, 2014

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