Hunger Expert Addresses Vermont Foodbank

Here are some sobering numbers for a state that consistently ranks as one of the healthiest in the nation: between 2006 and 2008, more than 12 percent of Vermonters lived in homes that couldn't afford enough food. Those figures come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and what they reveal will be the focus of discussion at the Vermont Foodbank's Hunger Conference today at the Sheraton Hotel in South Burlington.

At that conference will be a national expert on hunger and poverty, Joel Berg, executive director of the NYC Coalition Against Hunger, and the author of the book "All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America?"

He recently told VPR's Mitch Wertlieb that what hunger looks like in America is not an image that prompts people, or the government, to act.

Click listen to hear the interview.