In the past year, Anita Hallbauer, a worker at the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut, noticed new people showing up at the organization's food pantry on Channing Street in New London.

Many of them were in an unfamiliar and strange predicament, having to ask for something to eat.

"We're seeing some lower middle-class people that have never done this before," Hallbauer said. "You can tell they are lost."

Hallbauer's observation has become a common one among food pantries around the region as they have seen increases in the number of people in the past six months who need help with meals.

According to Paul Jakoboski, director of the Gemma E. Moran United Way Labor Food Center, the main food distribution point for 93 nonprofits in New London County, there has been a 15 percent increase in the amount of food the agencies have requested this year.

That jump is also borne out in a new report issued last week by the Department of Agriculture, which found that there has been a 36 percent increase in the number of Americans who are at risk of hunger.

The report says 49 million Americans, including 17 million children, are "food insecure," meaning that an individual or a household has either had to cut out a meal or could not afford a meal.

In Connecticut, the number of "food insecure" people jumped more than 11 percent between 2007 and 2008, leaving 390,000 state residents, or one of nine households, at risk of hunger.

"The numbers are very troubling," said Nancy Carrington, executive director of the Connecticut Food Bank.

Carrington said the East Haven-based Connecticut Food Bank, which supplies food to distribution centers in every county except Hartford and Tolland, was shipping 30 tons of food a day in 2008.

In 2009, that number increased to 35 tons, or as Carrington points out, the equivalent of two tractor-trailer loads a day.

Carrington thinks the increase in the number of at-risk people in Connecticut is partly due to a shrinking middle class due to the high cost of living in the state, which includes the price of groceries.

"You don't have a lot of leeway, after paying medical bills and utilities," she said. "It's a sad state of affairs."

Patty Dowling, the executive director of Shoreline Soup Kitchens and Pantries, which operates food centers from Clinton to East Lyme, said many new clients there come from middle-class people who have suffered greatly in the current economy but still have too many assets, such as unsold houses, to be eligible for social services.

"They are getting squeezed," Dowling said.

Paul Moshier, a case worker with Catholic Charities in New London, has seen people come in for food who have "worked their whole lives," and for whom asking for help comes with wounded pride.

'They don't come to these places," he said. "They don't know about food stamps."

Moshier said those who are seeking help should find out whether a food pantry requires an appointment or they can just walk in.

Clients are then given a three- or four-day supply of food, usually a mix of pastas and soup, which can be stretched out over the course of a week by making a stew.

Although more people have been using food banks, the number of donations in the past year has not diminished.

"People are incredibly generous," Dowling said.

Carrington said that corporations such as Wal-Mart, Target and Stop & Shop often donate food and that individuals can help by contributing money.

"Every $5 means 17 meals," she said.

Food pantries across the state also count on increased donations in the upcoming holiday season that often carry over into the new year.

"We'll be feeding people the day after Thanksgiving," Jakoboski said. "People are hungry 365 days a year."