If you want to know about hunger in Idaho, the Idaho Foodbank has a few numbers for you:

52,448 Idaho children go to bed hungry every night, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

42,911 Idaho families are "food insecure." In less bureaucratic terms, these families aren't sure they have enough money to buy food.

Of the Idaho households receiving emergency food assistance, 44 percent have at least one working adult.

55 percent have to choose between buying food and paying for heating fuel or utilities.

34 percent have to choose between buying food and paying the rent or the mortgage bill.

36 percent have to choose between buying food and paying for medical care. When it comes down to a choice between groceries and paying the bills, consumers usually try to stretch the food budget - often by buying cheaper food with less nutritional value. "Our food budgets are considered to be variable," says Roger Simon, president of the Idaho Foodbank.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Idaho ranks as America's 13th hungriest state. If you're looking for good news, there isn't much. Idaho had once ranked eighth on the Agriculture Department list - and in this case, the lower the ranking, the better.

But the Agriculture Department rankings - the ones that put Idaho 13th in the nation - cover 2004 through 2006. In other words, they do not take into account rising unemployment and rising grocery prices.

Which brings us to this year. Through August, the food bank has distributed 32 percent more food than it did through the first eight months of 2007. Layoffs and inflation are driving up the demand for help.

Unfortunately, inflation is also driving up the food bank's costs. The food bank has grown to rely on food donations shipped in nationally - normally a reliable source - but gas prices have increased shipping costs by 30 percent.

Food pantries are heading into a busy season: the holidays. Simon expects 20,000 families to need turkeys this holiday season, up from 17,000. Local donors usually do a great job of responding to the need during the holidays, said Simon, but with the food bank's costs rising, local support is all the more important. "We have to look heavily at the community stepping up," he said.

There are several ways to help. The food bank will accept donations of cash and food, and volunteers to help sort food items. As the numbers show, the need is real.

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