We can end hunger.
The proof is the amazing progress the world has made in just the past two generations. In 1960, 1 in 3 people was hungry. Today, chronic hunger affects 1 in every 8 or 9 people – about 795 million people worldwide.
But with so many people going hungry daily, hunger is still a huge problem. Picture all the people in the United States and the European Union. Almost that many people simply don’t have enough to eat.
Hunger causes immense suffering and sometimes death. The dead are most commonly young children – thousands every day, year after year. Those who survive early childhood malnutrition face lifelong health and learning problems. They are robbed of their God-given potential.
Adults – workers and parents – can’t be fully productive without enough nutritious food. Countries where many people are hungry have weaker economies. And as long as people are hungry, the world is less secure.
But with access to opportunity and the right tools, people can create change. They can do it no matter where they live.
Take Bangladesh, which has millions of hungry people. Farmers there face unusually challenging conditions. A third of the country floods every year, and much of the soil contains arsenic. Yet Bangladesh has made dramatic progress. Hunger and malnutrition have decreased dramatically.
Here in the United States, children rarely die of hunger. However, 1 in every 5 children in the U.S. is uncertain about having food to eat. Their families may regularly run out of grocery money. Many children who “look healthy” do not get enough nutrients. Their health and ability to learn in school are weakened.
Bread and its partners tell our nation’s decision makers that we can’t tolerate hunger anywhere. The government can’t end hunger by itself, but government commitment is crucial to the progress that is possible. For example, Brazil’s nationwide “Zero Hunger” effort made impressive progress in just 10 years. Britain has reduced poverty since the late 1990s.
We can virtually end hunger in our time.
Each person who takes action with Bread for the World helps us get closer to that goal. When we speak up and urge our nation’s decision makers to help end hunger in our country and around the world, we are making it happen together.
"They will hunger no more, and thirst no more."
Afghanistan would be considered likely to have high rates of hunger because at least two of the major causes of global hunger affect it—armed conflict and fragile governmental institutions.
Malnutrition is responsible for nearly half of all preventable deaths among children under 5. Every year, the world loses hundreds of thousands of young children and babies to hunger-related causes.
Bread for the World is calling on the Biden-Harris administration and Congress to build a better 1,000-Days infrastructure in the United States.
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in faith.” These words from Colossians 2:6 remind us of the faith that is active in love for our neighbors.
The Bible on...
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to respond to changes in need, making it well suited to respond to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bread for the World and its partners are asking Congress to provide $200 million for global nutrition.
In 2017, 11.8 percent of households in the U.S.—40 million people—were food-insecure, meaning that they were unsure at some point during the year about how they would provide for their next meal.