In the richest nation on earth, a rising number of people line up for free food because they are struggling to put meals on the table at home. Demand at food banks in the United States is up 15 per cent to 20 per cent over last year, and many food banks are having difficulty coping, according to America’s Second Harvest, the largest U.S. food bank provider with 200 in its network.

Food bank networks procure non-perishable and fresh produce from suppliers, then stock it in warehouses before distributing it via a chain of community food banks across the country. The total number of people who use them is not known but the upward trend is one sign of a US economic downturn in which soaring fuel costs and the rising price of other basic goods have pushed many people on low incomes or without jobs into hardship.

The banks say more people with steady jobs are turning up at their centres to wait in line, fill out forms and collect rations of free or reduced-price food. In a parallel development demand for government food stamps is also rising.

“Having a (low wage) job isn’t enough anymore. Having two or three jobs isn’t enough anymore,” said Marcia Paulson, spokeswoman for Great Plains Food Bank in North Dakota, where nearly half the households receiving food stamp benefits have one or more working adults.

Olga Medina’s story illustrates the dilemma for many on low wages who said they considered their need to resort to free food a humiliation in a country that prides itself on independence and stresses work as a sure route to success. Medina works full time providing homecare for old people in Douglas, on Arizona’s border with Mexico. She said she earns $1,100 a month with which she also supports her parents and a sick son, but is unable to make ends meet due to rising food and fuel costs.

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