{"id":5954,"date":"2026-01-18T02:38:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T10:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wrwofficial.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/18\/in-the-u-s-hidden-hunger-still-leaves-scars-on-body-and-mind-shots\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T02:38:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T10:38:26","slug":"in-the-u-s-hidden-hunger-still-leaves-scars-on-body-and-mind-shots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wrwofficial.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/18\/in-the-u-s-hidden-hunger-still-leaves-scars-on-body-and-mind-shots\/","title":{"rendered":"In the U.S., hidden hunger still leaves scars on body and mind : Shots"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Marilyn Vargas, who supports a household of six, gathers food donations at a pop-up food pantry held outside the Easthampton Community Center in Easthampton, Massachusetts.
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Karen Brown\/NEPM<\/p>\n

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Karen Brown\/NEPM<\/p>\n

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Hunger in America looks very different from the stereotype of malnourished children trying to survive a famine in a low-income country far away.<\/p>\n

In the U.S., hunger is often much less obvious, but it’s there \u2014 in the disruptive behavior of a third-grader who missed breakfast or the chronic anxiety of parents carefully rationing out boxes of cheap macaroni for their children.<\/p>\n

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You can also see hunger in long lines at a pop-up food pantry at a community center<\/a> in Easthampton, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

That’s where Marilyn Vargas found herself in November, pushing a grocery cart past a table of free food just after the season’s first snowstorm. She threw in large packs of chicken breasts, some cookies, a giant box of Cheerios, rice, beans \u2014 all for her household of six.<\/p>\n

The family’s sole income comes from her federal disability check, Vargas said, supplemented by government programs like SNAP, and food donations. When the Trump administration delayed November’s benefits during the government shutdown, “I was very worried,” Vargas said.<\/p>\n