The Latest Bushit.

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The Washington Post
Posted Nov. 16, 2006

Every year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issues a report that
measures Americans' access to food. It has consistently used the word
"hunger" to describe those who can least afford to put food on the
table.

Not this year. Mark Nord, the lead author of the report, said
"hungry" is "not a scientifically accurate term for the specific
phenomenon being measured in the food security survey."

The department said that 12 percent of Americans - 35 million people
- could not put food on the table at least part of last year. Eleven
million of them reported going hungry at times. Beginning this year,
the Agriculture Department has determined "very low food security"
to be a more scientifically palatable description for that group.

The United States has set a goal of reducing the proportion of
food-insecure households to 6 percent or less by 2010, or half the 1995
level, but it has proved difficult. Last year, the share of
food-insecure households stood at 11 percent.

Anti-hunger advocates say the new words sugarcoat a national shame.

"The proposal to remove the word 'hunger' from our official
reports is a huge disservice to the millions of Americans who struggle
daily to feed themselves and their families," said David Beckmann,
president of Bread for the World, an anti-hunger advocacy group.

The agency usually releases the report in the fall. This year, when the
report failed to appear in October as it usually does, Democrats
accused the Bush administration of delaying its release until after the
midterm elections.

Nord denied the accusation, saying: "This is a schedule that was set
several months ago."
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