Daniel Bates writes for The Daily Mail:
A record one in six American families went hungry last year because they did not have enough food, a shock survey has revealed.
Some 17.4million U.S. households - 50 million people - were classified as 'food insecure' which meant they regularly skipped meals even if they wanted to eat.
Others went for entire days without eating and handed round smaller portion sizes to make their meagre offerings suffice.
The news comes as it is revealed that top U.S. executives saw their pay and bonuses shoot up last year in the face of the worst recession for 80 years.
The highest paid bosses received an average of $1.6million (£1million) as a bonus on top of their basic remuneration, an increase of 11 per cent.
Salaries rose by just 3 per cent but that still meant the typical executive took home $7.2million (£4.4million).
The dietary figures are the highest since 1995 when the first national food security survey was conducted and will be acutely embarrassing for the United States, the world's richest nation and the last remaining superpower.
They also shine a light on the vast numbers of hard working Americans who have lost their jobs in the recession and for the first time are having to rely on the state to make ends meet.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture study shows that in 2009, almost 50 million people, including 17 million children, were 'food insecure'.
This marked a slight increase from the previous year when 17.1 million families had difficulty putting meals on the table.
Those in this category usually went hungry, could not afford a balanced meal and cut their portion sizes on the occasions they did have food.
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