Etc.

Some places in the US, the next meal is no sure thing

Given that the United States is the world's greatest food-producing nation, it can come as a surprise to learn that the Department of Agriculture classifies roughly 35 million Americans as "food insecure." These are individuals in low security or very low security food situations, which means they either have reduced the quality and variety of their diets or they've had to disrupt their normal eating patterns because of a lack of money or other resources. The USDA, which has monitored food security since 1995, finds people in Mississippi to be some of the most food-challenged. The states with the highest prevalence of food insecurity, on a percentage-of-households basis, according to the most recent USDA data, collected from 2004 to 2006:

1. Mississippi 18.1%
2. New Mexico 16.1%
3. Texas 15.9%
4. South Carolina 14.7%
5. Oklahoma14.6%
6. Utah14.5%
7. Louisiana 14.4%
8. Arkansas14.3%
9. Kentucky 13.6%
10. Arizona 13.1%