Press Release

Bread for the World Applauds President Bush’s ‘First Step’ In Combating Soaring World Food Prices

Washington, DC, April 15, 2008 – Bread for the World President David Beckmann expressed his support and appreciation for President Bush's decision to release $200 million in emergency food aid from the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust, a food reserve set aside and administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to respond to unexpected food crises in developing countries. 

Bread for the World was instrumental in the expansion and restructuring of the trust as part of the organization's 1998 Offering of Letters campaign, Africa: Seeds of Hope. 

"Since our initial efforts to bolster the effectiveness and reach of this important safety valve, the Emerson Humanitarian Trust has been called upon time and again to provide reactive, acute relief as food shortages occurred.  With global food prices now at record levels, these funds serve as a stopgap provision to help avoid impending humanitarian disaster," said Beckmann.  "But this is simply a first step.  As the richest nation on earth, we can and must do more."

The United Nations World Food Program has appealed to governments around the world for an additional $500 million in food aid in the short term. This money would provide critical relief to the world's poorest families who now spend between 50 percent and 75 percent of their meager incomes on food. 

"It's hard for Americans to imagine spending such a substantial amount of our paychecks on food – with the likelihood of spending even more – but that's the current reality for many hungry folks overseas, and even here at home.  And it's likely to get worse," he said.

Beckmann added that in the long term, rising food prices point toward the need for changes in domestic social safety net programs and in U.S. trade, aid, and development policies – especially as they affect agriculture – that will chart a course towards real reductions in hunger and poverty.  "The alarming jump in food prices around the world should be a wake-up call to policy makers in rich and poor countries, and to international institutions, to strengthen and improve agricultural policies," he said. "Our ability to sustain our environment and feed the world in the future depends on our willingness to act now." 

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Editor's Note:  David Beckmann, president, Bread for the World; and Asma Lateef, director, Bread for the World Institute are available for interviews. To schedule, please contact Bill Malone at (202) 464-8180.

Bread for the World (www.bread.org) is a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. By changing policies, programs and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist, we provide help and opportunity far beyond the communities where we live.