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Bill Radke: There’s new report today on hunger in America. Nearly 1 in 5 people told a Gallup survey they have struggled to pay the grocery bill in the last year. Marketplace’s Jennifer Collins tells us
the pollsters wanted to answer one question:

Jennifer Collins: Have there been times in the last month when you didn’t have the money to buy the food that you and your family needed? In the most recent report, more than 18 percent of Americans answered: Yes.

James Weill: That’s just a horrendous number.

James Weill is president of the Food Research and Action Center. He says the numbers are slightly better than a year ago. That’s because food is cheaper and the stimulus package boosted food stamps and other programs.

Still, Weill says he expects the nation to feel pangs of hunger throughout the coming years as stimulus money runs out.

Weill: This is not evidence just of a short-term economic problem. This is evidence of a long-term national hunger problem that we have to do something about.

He says the government needs to step up its focus on hungry children. Nearly 1 in 4 households with kids say they’re having trouble putting food on the table.

I’m Jennifer Collins for Marketplace.