Hunger and malnutrition had almost been eliminated by 1977 because of

the large increase in funding for food stamps, school lunch programs, and nutritional supplements for women and young children between 1969 and 1974. 

However, with subsequent cuts in foods stamps and nutrition programs as well as AFDC regulation changes, malnutrition and hunger once again returned to the nation. In response, a group of prominent medical doctors, health experts, and academic and religious leaders formed the Physician Task Force on Hunger in America to examine the problem.

In 1985, the task force reported that hunger was at “epidemic proportions,” estimating that some 20 million Americans experience hunger at some point each month, and one-half million children experience malnutrition. The task force claimed that America was becoming a “soup kitchen society” and argued that this crisis was the result of federal government policies. They called on Congress to end hunger, which they believed could be accomplished in six months by strengthening the food stamp program and by strengthening meal programs for schoolchildren and seniors.

Myers-Lipton, p. 262

(Excerpted from “Social Solutions to Poverty” © Paradigm Publishers 2006)