Hungry New Yorkers visited the city's food pantries and soup kitchens 400,000 more times during the third quarter of 2009 than they did during the same time period a year ago, an increase of 15%.

According to a survey of 390 hunger programs supplied by City Harvest, which picks up unused food from restaurants and other donors and delivers it to emergency feeding programs, 62% are seeing an increase in visits. Even more troubling, 59% said they are seeing more visits by children. Some 56% reported more visits by seniors.

The situation is worst in Brooklyn, where soup kitchens reported a 27% increase in visits.

City Harvest compared the period from July 2009 through September 2009 with the same time in 2008 for the study.

“The recession's aftershocks are still being felt in many communities in New York City, and new faces continue to be seen in lines at emergency feeding programs,” said Jilly Stephens, executive director at City Harvest.

According to the Fiscal Policy Institute, the real unemployment rate in New York City has reached 17%, which includes people who have given up finding work and are underemployed.

City Harvest will deliver more than 8 million pounds of food during what they call their Harvest Season—Oct. 15th through Jan. 31st—more than 1 million pounds over their goal last year.