The prophet John the Baptist, who proclaims the coming of the Lord in this Sunday’s gospel, survived in the wilderness by feeding on “locusts and wild honey.” Millions of American schoolchildren are only able to eat a more nutritious meal than John thanks to free or low-cost subsidized lunches, and the number of families needing such assistance is rising dramatically, new government data indicates.

Millions of once solidly middle class parents have lost jobs or homes during the economic crisis, qualifying their families for the decades-old safety-net program. The number of students receiving subsidized lunches rose to 21 million last school year from 18 million in 2006-2007, a 17 percent increase, according to an analysis of information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the meals program.

Eleven states had four-year increases of 25 percent or more, huge shifts in a vast program long characterized by incremental growth. “These are very large increases and a direct reflection of the hardships American families are facing,” said Benjamin Senauer, a University of Minnesota economist who studies the meals program, adding that the surge had happened so quickly “that people like myself who do research are struggling to keep up with it.”

All 50 states have shown increases, according to Agriculture Department statistics. In Florida, which has 2.6 million public school students, an additional 265,000 students have become eligible for subsidies since 2007, with increases in virtually every district. “Growth has been across the board,” said Mark Eggers, the Florida Department of Education official who oversees the lunch program.

In Tennessee the number of students receiving subsidized meals has grown 37 percent since 2007. “When a factory closes, our school districts see a big increase,” said Sarah White, the state director of school nutrition.

Source: An article by Sam Dillon for the New York Times