Top Hunger News: Changing Poverty Criteria

Domestic

More Poverty by Any Measure. ...A number of states have become convinced that the federal figures actually understate poverty, and have begun using different criteria in operating state-based social programs. [Stateline.org]

Oil Spill's Impacts on Cash Assistance Still Unknown. A reliable estimate of  the amount of money needed to satisfy cash assistance and Food Stamp requests from Florida families in dire straits because of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill won’t be known for months. [Sunshine State News]

When the Benefits Run Out - and Still No Job. ...By the end of the year, more than 1 million people will have exhausted their 99 weeks and still be without work, according to Andrew Stettner, deputy director at the National Employment Law Project. [CNN Money]

Vendors Asked to Make Healthy Menus. It’s like “Top Chef,’’ but with food trucks. [The Boston Globe]

International

Millions Wasted on Shipping Food Aid. U.S. taxpayers spend about U.S. $140 million every year on non-emergency food aid in Africa, and roughly the same amount to ship food aid to global destinations on U.S. vessels; money that could have been used to feed more people says a new study by researchers at Cornell University in the U.S. [IRIN]

Asia Needs to Invest More to Feed Population. Asian countries need to increase investment in food production by 50 percent to $120 billion a year to ensure they can afford to feed their large and growing populations, a United Nations' body said on Wednesday. [Reuters]

Hunger Rates for Niger's Children Reach 'Alarming' Levels. Relief workers in Niger say malnutrition rates for children under age five have reached emergency levels. A deepening food crisis in the eastern Sahel threatens nearly half of Niger's 14 million people. [VOA News]

Climate Change/Environment

[Multimedia] Peruvian Snags World Bank Funding to Paint Mountaintops White. Eduardo Gold, a Peruvian inventor, perturbed by the melting of glaciers in the Andes Mountains, has come up with a solution -- paint the Andes white. [Digital Journal]

Supporting Farmer Climate Adaptation When 'the Rains are Changing.' Farmers and herders in Ethiopia and Mali say that rainfall patterns are becoming more uncertain, endangering their pasture for livestock and their harvests. [Alertnet.com]   

Climate Change, a Burden to a Poor Farmer. Climate change spells a misfortune for rural livelihoods and agriculture in Malawi. [Digital Journal]