Don't tell those on the front lines at area food banks that the war on hunger is letting up.

They continue to see unprecedented demand for their service, which mirrors a food hardship report released by the national nonprofit Food Research and Action Center on Thursday.

More than 15 percent of Idaho homeowners said they did not have enough money to buy food that they needed at some point in 2012, the report states. The percentage ranked Idaho 39th out of all states and the District of Columbia.

Last year Idaho ranked 21st with a hardship rate of 18.9 percent.

Idaho's statistic, while improving, is still unfortunate and not a surprise, said Sherry Wallis, Post Falls Food Bank executive director. Food banks throughout Kootenai County are reporting increases in demand for their services.

"We saw a 24 percent increase in households seeking assistance in 2012 over 2011," Wallis said.

In Post Falls last year, 1,158 households representing 2,934 people, about a tenth of the city's population, met federal poverty guidelines to receive assistance from the food bank.

Community Action Partnership in Coeur d'Alene had an increase of 126 households in the past year and currently serves more than 18,000 individuals.

Kathy Gardner, director of the Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force, called the situation "unacceptable."

"These numbers show us that we must make our nation's safety net stronger, not weaker," she said.

The report found that nationally the food hardship rate was 18.2 percent in 2012. The national rate has fluctuated between 17.8 and 18.6 percent in the five years the report has been conducted.

Among states, Mississippi had the highest food hardship rate (24.6 percent) in 2012 and North Dakota, amid an oil boom, had the lowest (10.9 percent).

Boise, the lone Idaho metropolitan area that was part of the report, had a food hardship rate of 16.9 percent, ranking it 53rd out of 100 metro areas.

The results are based on a Gallup poll of 352,817 randomly sampled adults in telephone interviews from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Nearly 1,000 households have been contacted daily for the project since January 2008.

"That continuing high rate of food hardship in 2012 is evidence of both the lingering effects of the terrible recession and the failure of Congress to respond robustly with initiatives to boost jobs, wages and public income and nutrition support programs," the report states. "These economic and political shortfalls continue to take a harsh toll on the nation's food security."

Wallis said some food bank clients received a slight increase in Social Security benefits last year, but their food stamps were cut.

"They didn't gain anything," she said.

Gardner said she hopes the federal Farm Bill, which protects the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), will be approved by Congress.

The full 32-page report is at www.frac.org.