About Bread for the World Institute
Bread for the World Institute provides nonpartisan policy analysis on hunger and strategies to end it. The Institute has been educating opinion leaders, policymakers, and the public about hunger in the United States and abroad since 1975.
Bread for the World Institute is a separately-incorporated 501(c)3 organization. Gifts to the Institute are tax-deductible.
Annual Hunger Report
The Institute publishes a book-length Hunger Report every year. Each edition focuses on a particular topic and its relationship to the root causes of hunger and malnutrition. Recommendations for policy change based on the report’s analysis guide Bread for the World’s advocacy. The Hunger Report has been published annually since 1975.
The 2018 Hunger Report, The Jobs Challenge outlines recommendations to improve job opportunities and wages. The report offers Congress a menu of policies that would improve job opportunities for low-income workers, and argues that improving job opportunities is crucial to overcoming hunger and poverty.
The report’s recommendations include investing in the country’s infrastructure (with a focus on broadband access in rural communities and public transportation in cities); increasing the minimum wage; criminal justice reform that would mean fewer people in prison and more people in the job market; and immigration reform that would allow undocumented immigrants to move into better jobs and contribute more to our economy.
"Wages have been stagnant for decades – meaning that workers are earning less, inequality is rising, and families can’t make ends meet," said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. "Fortunately, Congress can take steps to improve job opportunities. Some of the recommendations in this report already have bipartisan support and could become law in the next Congress."
Past Reports
The 2017 Hunger Report, Fragile Environments, Resilient Communities, explains how state fragility stands in the way of ending hunger and extreme poverty. Fragile states are countries where high rates of hunger and poverty are compounded by civil conflict, poor governance, and vulnerability to climate change.
The 2016 Hunger Report, The Nourishing Effect: Ending Hunger, Improving Health, Reducing Inequality, explores the connections among hunger, food insecurity, and health problems in the United States.
The 2015 Hunger Report, When Women Flourish … We Can End Hunger, examines the links between global women’s empowerment and ending hunger and malnutrition. One cannot be achieved without the other. Gender equality depends on strengthening women’s bargaining power, reducing their burden of unpaid work, and building a collective voice in public life.
The 2014 report, Ending Hunger in America, provides a detailed, four-part plan to end hunger in the U.S.
Other resources
The Institute also produces briefing papers, fact sheets, and infographics. All resources are designed for an audience of policymakers and activists.
Areas of focus
The Institute’s current analysis and advocacy areas include:
- global hunger and poverty
- U.S. hunger and poverty
- U.S. populations most impacted by hunger
- U.S. international development assistance
- global sustainable development goals
- maternal / child nutrition
- food security and smallholder agriculture
- immigration
Laying the Groundwork for Advocacy
Solving a complex problem such as hunger requires a clear understanding of the impact of specific policies and how policies affect each other. The Institute’s nonpartisan analysis and identification of action steps help strengthen Bread as a trusted voice in national life.
Tools
from our Resource Library
For Education
U.S. Hunger and Poverty State Fact Sheets
These fact sheets provide a snapshot of hunger and poverty in the United States and in each state plus Washington, D.C.
Fact Sheet: Hunger and Poverty in Puerto Rico
Even before Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck Puerto Rico, hunger and food insecurity were much more common among Puerto Ricans than among their fellow U.S. citizens in the 50 states.
Before...
Fact Sheet: Fortified for Life. How the U.S. Government Supports Global Nutrition.
Good nutrition is a critical part of ensuring that all human beings can use their bodies and minds to live an active life and reach their full potential.
For Faith
Unity Declaration on Racism and Poverty
A diverse body of Christian leaders calls on the churches and Congress to focus on the integral connection.
Dear Members of Congress,
As the president and Congress are preparing their plans for this year, almost 100 church leaders—from all the families of U.S. Christianity—are...
In Times Like These … A Pan-African Christian Devotional for Public Policy Engagement
This devotional guide invites deepened relationship with and among Pan-African people and elected leaders in the mission to end hunger and poverty.
Sermon by David Beckmann at Duke University Chapel
Remarks delivered October 1, 2017 at Duke University Chapel in Chapel Hill in North Carolina.
Thank you for inviting me to preach here at Duke University Chapel. And I especially want to thank the Bread for the World members who have come this morning.
Bruce Puckett urged...
For Advocacy
U.S. Hunger and Poverty State Fact Sheets
These fact sheets provide a snapshot of hunger and poverty in the United States and in each state plus Washington, D.C.
Fact Sheet: Hunger by the Numbers
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.
Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017
Unnecessarily long prison sentences, combined with the lack of rehabilitative programs for people in prison, exacerbate hunger, poverty, and existing inequalities.
Overly harsh mandatory minimum prison sentences have contributed to the rapid increase of our country’s prison population. The...