Sept. 08--" Mommy, I'm hungry," 3-year-old Keira Beatty blurted as she jumped into her mother's arms.
Chrystal Beatty, 27, handed her fidgety daughter a mint.
"We'll get food soon," she promised.
Beatty and her daughter were among dozens waiting in line for food at Lutheran Social Services' food pantry yesterday. Unlike most, Beatty had never been there before.
"I don't like taking handouts. I'd rather buy my own food," Beatty said. "But I had no choice ... the bills come first."
She's not alone. Ohio's hunger problem got worse last year.
The state climbed to sixth in the nation in food insecurity, as 1 in 6 households struggled last year to get enough to eat. In only five other states, all in the Deep South, was hunger more persistent, according to an annual report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Three years ago, Ohio ranked 12th.
The number of people coming to the South Side pantry run by Lutheran Social Services has increased significantly in recent years, said David Drumm, pantry manager.
"Last month, we served 8,637 people ... that's much more than before," Drumm said.
The pantry also has welcomed more new families than ever -- about 135 last month, he added.
The spike in demand has forced the pantry to seek additional corporate donations and spend $4,000 more each month on food, Drumm said.
Alice Hohl of the Salvation Army in Central Ohio said demand for food is up so much that her organization will hold an emergency food drive on Friday to restock bare shelves and empty refrigerators at its 966 E. Main St. pantry. Donations can be dropped off at the rear of the building between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
"Our shelves are bare," Hohl said. "We're basically desperate."
Ohio's problems are growing while hunger nationwide leveled off last year -- the U.S. rate of food insecurity remained at the 2008 level, 14.5 percent -- and cases of extreme food insecurity actually dropped a bit, the Department of Agriculture report found.
Many blame the state's troubles on persistent poverty, widespread unemployment and difficulty pulling out of the recession.
"It's the economy. Our economy is not recovering, and the jobs that are there do not pay a livable wage. How much more data do we need to see? Ohio is not moving in the right direction," said Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks.
Beatty and her husband, Justin, 28, are watching the amount of money they can spend on food dwindle as food prices increase.
"Justin delivers appliances, but he just isn't getting paid enough to cover the cost of bills and food," Beatty said.
The report found the percentage of Ohio households with food insecurity climbed to 16.4 percent in 2010 from 13.2 percent in 2008.
Mississippi's hunger problem led the nation, with 1 in 5 residents struggling to buy food, skipping meals or forgoing nutritious diets. It was followed by Texas, Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia.
"It is a deep, deep hole that we are climbing out of," said Rob Nichols, spokesman for Gov. John Kasich.
The administration, Nichols said, remains focused on creating jobs. "Everything this governor does and talks about is designed to make Ohio more business-friendly so we can create jobs and put problems such as those pointed out in this report behind us."
The analysis was based on a survey conducted in December 2010. A household is considered to be food insecure if there was not enough food for all members of the household at some time during the year.
Kevin Concannon, the Agriculture Department's under secretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, said the report underscores the critical need for emergency food assistance. If not for food stamps, the school lunch and breakfast program, and nutritional assistance for women, infants and children, more Americans would suffer from hunger.
"As long as there is hunger, we can -- must -- do more. We are a bountiful country where, clearly, hunger is unacceptable," he said.
The tax-funded programs serve hundreds of thousands in Ohio. Forty-four percent of schoolchildren rely on the free and reduced-price lunch program, while food-stamp rolls have swelled to more than 1.7 million.
In addition, emergency food pantries served more than 2 million Ohioans in the past three months, Hamler-Fugitt said.
Beatty hopes she is not among the ranks of those needing help for long, and she might try to find a job to add to her family's earnings. "It makes me feel terrible," noting her children: Keira and son Gage, 8. "I'd rather be supplying for them than myself."
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