Bread for the World President Talks about Hunger on “Bill Moyers Journal”

WHO:

Rev. David Beckmann, president, Bread for the World

WHAT:

Rev. Beckmann will appear as a guest on the April 4 episode of the “Bill Moyers Journal,” a weekly program aired by the 394 member stations of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

WHEN:

Friday, April 4, 2008

WHERE:

Check local listings for the schedule and your closest PBS station

WHY:

This week’s program, “Hope for the Congo?” features an extended documentary on the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rev. Beckmann’s interview with Bill Moyers will follow focusing on the problem of global hunger and the progress that has been made in feeding the world.

The interview will also touch on the current U.S. farm bill negotiations as a lead-in to a full-hour “Bill Moyers Journal” segment on farm subsidies in the United States, planned for April 11.

More than 854 million people in developing countries are undernourished. According to the most recent Lancet study, maternal and child under-nutrition causes the death of approximately 3.5 million children each year. This is about 10,000 children a day or one child every 9 seconds.

In 2004, 228,000 people died when the tsunami struck South Asia. With 10,000 children dying from hunger-related causes every day, that is equivalent to 15 tsunamis every occurring every year.

In the United States, more than 35 million people live in households that struggle to put food on the table – about one household in ten. The country needs a strong safety net, including the food stamp program and other nutrition provisions that are part of the U.S. farm bill. The 2002 farm bill has been extended but is set to expire on April 18. Despite the shortcomings of the versions passed by the House and Senate in 2007, Congress can still pass a new farm bill that makes genuine reforms.

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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.