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Many Opportunities Right Now to Fight Hunger

Bread for the World – along with Congress and the rest of the country – is in the midst of a very busy time. We continue to build support for our Offering of Letters legislation, the Hunger-Free Communities Act of 2005. At the same time, Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath have generated unprecedented public attention to issues of hunger and poverty in our country, potentially inspiring many new anti-hunger activists. Congress is still working on the 2006 budget, which may yet include cuts to the Food Stamp Program to help pay for $70 billion in tax cuts that primarily benefit wealthy people.

The Hunger-Free Communities Act strengthens U.S. commitment to cutting hunger in half by 2010 and ending hunger by 2015. Photo by Rick Reinhard

The budget resolution Congress passed in April calls for $3 billion in cuts over five years to agriculture programs, which includes the Food Stamp Program. Many in Congress argue that, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, these cuts should not be made. Others believe that some of the relief efforts should be paid for by spending cuts. Bread for the World opposes any cuts to nutrition programs and does not believe that cuts to social safety net programs should pay for tax cuts for wealthy people. With hunger and poverty already on the rise and then worsened by natural disaster, Congress needs to address the hunger problem in our country – not eliminate the food stamp benefits of low-wage workers and their children. The basic needs of vulnerable people should be a top priority.

The Hunger-Free Communities Act would strengthen the U.S. commitment to cutting hunger in half by 2010 and ending hunger by 2015. The bill protects national nutrition programs and supports local groups seeking to end hunger in their communities. It is a strong long-term plan and an appropriate response to Hurricane Katrina. Thanks to the faithful work of BFW members, the Hunger-Free Communities Act has won 30 co-sponsors in the Senate and 119 in the House. Bread for the World is now working on strategies to move the legislation forward to Senate and House votes.

Hurricane Katrina and last December's Indian Ocean tsunami have left no doubt that poverty makes people more vulnerable when disaster strikes – no matter where they live. People are much more able to cope with emergencies if they are well nourished and have access to clean water, health care and basic education. Thus, Bread for the World continues to seek robust increases in poverty-focused development assistance overseas, including full funding for the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA).

The Senate and House have already approved separate 2006 foreign spending bills and now need to negotiate a compromise. Until this process is completed later this year, people of faith and conscience should continue to urge their members of Congress to approve generous increases in poverty-focused development assistance. Bread for the World supports the Senate version of the bill, which would increase funding for poverty-focused development assistance by more than $1.5 billion over 2005 levels. In addition to these funds, we urge Congress to meet the full request of $3 billion for the MCA.

This year, our anti-hunger movement is growing stronger – thanks to the efforts of long-time and new Bread for the World members, activists in the ONE Campaign, and our partner organizations in the Alliance to End Hunger. With your help, we can strengthen social safety nets and motivate decision-makers to end the root causes of hunger. Thank you to all for your work during this eventful time!

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An Advent Awareness of Global Poverty

photo by Jim Stipe

by Kathleen O'Toole

For unto us a child is born...
-Isaiah 9:6

It’s not too early to think ahead to Advent, a time in which we prepare to celebrate the gift of Emmanuel – God with us – at Christmas. The Advent readings invite us to prepare the way, and cultivate in our hearts a reign of righteousness. What better time for Christian churches to lift up the call for greater justice in our world?

The gift of God incarnate, not in the palaces of power, but in the form of a poor and helpless child, can be the occasion when we emphasize the call to care for all children, and work for a world in which no child goes hungry or dies from preventable disease.

This has been a year of greater awareness of global poverty, and not just in the stark images of tsunami devastation, civil wars and famine. For many of us, 2005 brought the hope of new political will to end hunger and poverty, as the ONE Campaign in the United States, along with the Global Call to Action Against Poverty and Make Poverty History, engaged millions of people around the world in calling for an end to extreme poverty, hunger and disease.

More and more Christians are finding – in the ONE Campaign, the Micah Challenge, and the Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty – ways of acting on their faith to advocate for debt cancellation, trade justice and robust increases in poverty-focused development. This Advent could be a time to invite prayer, reflection and action against global poverty.

Bread for the World Institute is working with a number of our denominational partner to assemble simple resources for local churches, religious educators and others to use in Advent programming. You can check www.bread.org after November 1 for links to these resources, or call the Church Relations Department at 1-800-82-BREAD.

Isaiah, Chapter 9, heralds not only the Son given to us, but a reign of “justice and righteousness from this time forth.” Let us live into that reign this Advent.

Kathleen O'Toole is Bread for the World's Senior Church Outrech Associate.

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Silent Killer: The Unfinished Campaign Against Hunger To Air on Public Television

A new one-hour documentary, Silent Killer: The Unfinished Campaign Against Hunger, illustrates the problem of hunger and solutions being sought around the world. Produced by Hana Jindrova and John de Graaf, who also produced the acclaimed documentary Affluenza, the program brings viewers into the front lines of global hunger issues: food problems in the Kalahari Desert, agricultural research in Kenya, national mobilization through Brazil's Fome Zero (Zero Hunger) campaign and its Landless Peasants' Movement. The program asks fundamental questions: Can we end hunger? What will it take? What are we doing now?

Bread for the World President David Beckmann is featured in Silent Killer, and Bread for the World contributed to the "Faith Perspectives on Hunger" section of the film's Web site. Please check your local PBS listings for this fall's broadcasts of Silent Killer: The Unfinished Campaign Against Hunger. For more information, visit www.silentkillerfilm.org.

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Making a Difference in New Orleans – Then and Now

Sister Jane Remson

The BFW New Orleans chapter used the study to further strengthen its wide variety of advocacy activities. Led by former BFW Board member Sister Jane Remson, the group organizes an impressive annual Walk for the Hungry, complete with high school marching bands, a specially designed T-shirt, influential political leaders, and a week of related activities. 2006 will mark the walk's 25th anniversary. BFW Director of Special Programs Richard Hoehn said that Sister Jane is a strong, energetic leader in the fight against hunger in Louisiana. "She is someone who can really inspire others to activism – she does radio shows, visits high schools, makes speeches, recruits celebrities to the cause. She can generate a significant number of calls on last-minute legislative issues."

As Hurricane Katrina approached, Sister Jane and others were forced to flee their convent five blocks from the New Orleans levees. The building was later covered by 15 feet of water. Sister Jane returned soon after the floods to help set up an emergency feeding system. In a phone call to BFW President David Beckmann, she said, "Bread for the World members need to use [Katrina] as an eye-opener. Much of our city is have-nots; New Orleans needs better jobs so that people won't be so poor…. But there is also great disparity in many other parts of the country. One of the big things we can do is to educate people about the disparity between the haves and have-nots."

Thank you to Sister Jane and other New Orleans activists for their tireless anti-hunger work before the hurricane and determined efforts to continue in its aftermath. Our prayers are with them!

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4,500 Miles for World Hunger

Bread for the World members Chuck and Laura Richardson biked 4,500 miles this summer – from Yorktown, VA, to Los Angeles – to draw attention to global hunger and the goals of the ONE Campaign. Their route was entirely along back roads, so they had many opportunities to talk with people in small towns across the country.

"We don't have a lot of money or influential jobs," said Laura Richardson. "We wanted to emphasize that one or two people can make a big difference on an issue like hunger. You don't need to wait until a problem affects you personally – ending hunger is simply the right thing to do."

The Richardsons biked across the country to highlight ONE and hunger.

They found that many people had not spent much time thinking about problems around the world. "It was rewarding to communicate with people about something new to them. It's important to make the numbers concrete, because it can be hard to visualize hundreds of millions of hungry people," said Chuck Richardson. "Frankly, global hunger is a rather complex issue. We tried to give a sense of the whole context, rather than over-simplify the problems or the solutions."

The couple's previous cycling trip, which benefited Doctors Without Borders in 2002, gave them valuable organizing experience. This time, they worked with local BFW chapters and other community organizations to organize meetings and fundraisers. Laura said, "It really gave us hope to meet people who were so committed. Sometimes at home, we feel like we're in this alone."

As they approached towns, the couple sent postcards to the local media to help generate newspaper and TV coverage. "The media was interested because we established a personal connection – it was a story about actual people working for a cause," said Chuck. They plan to do at least two more annual cycling trips to benefit Bread for the World.

"It takes time to make contacts and build credibility," said Laura. "But there is a huge cycling community in the United States, so there's a lot of potential if you can just get them involved. The next two years should really begin to pay off in terms of getting people involved and raising more money."

Thanks to Chuck and Laura Richardson for their travels -- rain or shine -- on behalf of hungry people!

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