In response to a Census Bureau report yesterday preceding the release of the 2010 Census stating that poverty levels in 2009 were the highest they'd been since 1951, the San Francisco Food Bank issued a statement saying that 150,000 people in the city live at or below the 150% mark of the federal poverty line (adjusted for CA cost of living). The Food Bank saw a 25% increase in requests for food assistance last year, and they distributed more than 37 million pounds of food in 2009, up from 32 million pounds in 2008. [Bay City News/Appeal]