Dignity in Poverty

In browsing ABCs news webpage for possible topics, I came upon an article titled "Defining America's New Face of Poverty,"  written by Lyneka Little.  http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Savings/face-poverty-food-banks/story?id=11682134&page=1  The article acknowledges the steep growth of US American citizens living below the poverty line.  They highlight this shift by dramatizing the "fall of the middle class."  Little describes ways in which food pantries have had to respond to the shift; not only are these pantries facing difficulties in providing enough food, they are also working to provide a new sense of dignity to the food pantry experience.  Little describes one food pantry that will soon move to a larger space so that clients can have a more dignified shopping experience (i.e. there will not be a volunteer handing out food.)

To me, this is interesting in that it is only after once solidly middle class citizens began using these services that we begin to think about ways by which to make a visit to the food pantry  more dignified.  Another question I have is why is it that visiting a food pantry is undignified to begin with?  Finally, I find it odd that American poverty has a "new face;" why is it so important for us to make the distinction between those who have always been poor and those who have simply fallen upon hard times?