A total of 15 different U.S. food and nutrition programs (FANPs) serve about one in four Americans at a current annual cost of almost $100 billion. Can the government actually improve our personal eating habits? Are these billions of dollars well-spent?

Sadly, 43 years after CBS News ran a documentary called "Hunger in America" it could do a new version coming to the same, if not more dire and depressing, conclusions. Hunger is here, in a real and palpable way, exacerbated by our tough economic conditions and persistent unemployment, but worsened as well by the high cost of food, especially nutritious food.

Congress needs to make fighting hunger a priority.

It is important to have a plan that builds a foundation for families by fighting hunger and investing in children.

Bad policies in rich nations have restricted food output, diverted crops from food to energy production, and stopped emerging-nation farmers from increasing capacity.

Rich nations find it too inconvenient to wean themselves from shameful and morally indefensible agricultural policies.

No one knows whether there will be a 2012 farm bill, but we do know that it there is one, nutrition programs -- food stamps, school lunches, WIC, etc. -- will take up the lion’s share of farm bill funding, well in excess of $90 billion a year. But is the funding serving the neediest Americans? Find out on Thursday at AEI.