Advocacy Makes a Difference

Bread for the World is participating in InterAction's People Who Make a Difference Week.  Bread would not exist without the commitment of our members, activists, donors and staff.  The following is a reflection from Megan Marsh (who recently posted on Bread's blog.)  She is an example of the commitment, passion and integrity of our members.

Photo of Megan in the Rayburn House Building on Lobby Day 2007

"How did I get here?" by Megan Marsh

I first heard the words “Farm Bill” together in the same sentence at an advocate training session for the ONE campaign in Denver, Colorado last March. At the time, I thought that the speaker, Holly Hight, was using it as just one of many examples of how American policy distorts trade internationally. I did not know that those words would become the recurring focus of my year and compel me to become involved in a lobbying campaign to push for Farm Bill reform.

After that day last spring, my friend and I hosted a house party to introduce our friends to the ONE campaign, traveled to Washington DC to attend Bread for the World’s Gathering conference and meet with our congressmen’s offices, and later addressed our local ONE group about the particulars of the Farm Bill and how we can use our voices to help farmers all over the world.

On a personal level, I began to see my food differently, feeling that the closer it was to the farmer that produced it, the closer I was to the earth, humanity and God. As an advocate, I made a goal that if the ONE campaign or Bread for the World asked me to do something, and it was an easy thing for me to do, I would just do it. Attending the training in March was an easy thing to do. Writing letters to my congressmen and visiting their local offices is an easy thing to do. Calling them on the phone and leaving messages with their staffers is an easy thing to do. If so many easy things I can do add up to significant impact for the lives of farmers and their families around the world, I really have no excuse to not act.

I care about the poor because I believe Jesus cares about the poor, and I believe that the central mission of Christians on this planet is to love God and love their neighbors; I can’t think of a better way to love my neighbor then to use the things I have been blessed with (including the blessing of U.S. citizenship) to ease their suffering.