Number of Hungry Families in Decline

The number of hungry families dropped by 24% as the nation’s economy boomed in the late 1990s, but millions of working poor still have trouble getting adequate food, the government said. Slightly fewer than 3 million families, or 2.8% of the nation’s households, had at least one member who went hungry in 1999, down from 3.95 million in 1995, according to an annual Agriculture Department report. An additional 6 million households were on the edge of hunger last year. They’re considered to be “food insecure,” meaning that they did not have assured access at all times to adequate food.