By Marlysa D. Gamblin and Margot Nitschke
Ending hunger in the United States is within reach, explain Marlysa Gamblin and Margot Nitschke, in Getting to Zero Hunger by 2030. Our country has already committed to doing so by 2030 as part of a set of 17 global goals that also include ending extreme poverty. But achieving zero hunger requires identifying the people most likely to be hungry and supporting policies that give them access to the opportunities they need to build a better life.
Members of many groups are more vulnerable to hunger than the average American. For example, more than 1.4 million military veterans live below the poverty line. Adults with disabilities are twice as likely to live with hunger and poverty as the general U.S. population. Women, children, and older Americans run similar higher risks of hunger and poverty.
Ending U.S. hunger and poverty is quite possible. But it requires two things — first, that we acknowledge the role of racial inequality in the high hunger and poverty rates among communities of color, and second, that we work together to tackle these inequalities in our workforce, communities, and schools.
Schools that are 90% white spend $773 more per student than schools with 90% students of color.
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.
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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.