Food insecurity and hunger are very real problems in the United States. Though the U.S. has long been among the richest nations in the world, our national poverty rate has never dropped below 10%. Of those individuals and families living above the poverty line, many can easily be plunged into a financial crisis by a lost job, a medical emergency, a broken down car, a stolen purse, or other unexpected expense or loss of income. In all, up to 70% of Americans are vulnerable to food insecurity or hunger; and at any given moment, 30 to 40 million of us are either hungry or only acquiring sufficient food by shortchanging another critical need.