Starved by funding cuts

(Above and below) Food supplies at Facing Hunger Food Bank in Charleston, West Virginia. The food bank only received five truckloads of food for the month, instead of the 16 it was expecting. — Maddie McGarvey/The New York Times

SARA Busse needed to cook a hot meal for 40 needy seniors. She had promised a main dish, a starch, a vegetable, a fruit and a dessert.

But this time, her supplies were sparse: dried cranberries, crackers and tinned vegetable soup.