139 posts categorized "Hunger QOTD"

—"What We Need Is Here," by writer and farmer Wendell Barry

Congress needs to hear from you! Any farm bill must not increase hunger. Call or email your members of Congress and tell them to ensure a place at the table for all people by protecting and strengthening the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) and international food aid in the farm bill.

Photo: A farm in Washington state. (Andrew Wainer)

“Lawmakers must look for other measures for balancing our federal budget than to do so on the backs of hungry and poor people who did not create the deficit in the first place.”

—Bread for the World President David Beckmann, in response to the House Agriculture Committee's farm bill, which cuts SNAP by $21 billion. 

"There are genuinely sufficient resources in the world to ensure that no one, nowhere, at no time, should go hungry." —Actor and activist Ed Asner

Photo: A young girl sells oranges in the market in Lusaka, Zambia. (Margaret W. Nea)

"Hunger, it’s right here in the United States.  It could be right next door and you would never know because people are too afraid to talk about it."

— Hunger activist Barbie Izquierdo in the documentary A Place at the Table. Izquierdo, one of four people featured in the film, will speak at Bread for the World’s 2013 National Gathering. Register today and join us.

Photo: Barbie Izquierdo is a Philadelphia native whose firsthand experiences with hunger and poverty have made her an anti-hunger activist and nationwide speaker on the topic. She lives in Lancaster, Pa., with her two children, Leylanie, 7, and Aidan, 5 (pictured). Barbie has worked with Witness to Hunger in Philadelphia and appears in the documentary A Place at the Table. (Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World)

“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”

— Chief Seattle, Suquamish and Duwamish leader (1780-1866)

Photo: Martha and her daughter clean beans grown in their garden in the highlands of Nicaragua. (Richard Leonardi)

“A good Samaritan is not simply one whose heart is touched in an immediate act of care and charity, but one who provides a system of sustained care.”

—Rev. James Forbes, in his Ted talk "Compassion at the Dinner Table."  Rev. Forbes, who is often called "the preacher’s preacher," will speak at Bread for the World’s 2013 National Gathering. Register today and join us.

Photo: Neelum Chand carries her son, Shuvam, 1, through the Nutrition Rehabilitation Home (NRH) in Dhangadhi, Nepal, after lunch on Sunday, April 29, 2012. The NRH, a project of the Rural Women's Development and Unity Center, a Nepali NGO, works to restore malnourished children to health. (Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World)

"Show me the suffering of the most miserable;
So I will know my people’s plight.
Free me to pray for others;
For you are present in every person.
Help me to take responsibility for my own life;
So that I can be free at last.
Grant me courage to serve others;
For in service there is true life."

"Enséñame el sufrimiento de los más
desafortunados;
Así conoceré el dolor de mi pueblo.
Líbrame a orar por los demás;
Porque estás presente en cada persona.
Ayúdame a tomar responsabilidad de mi
propia vida;
Sólo así seré libre al fin.
Concédeme valentía para servir al prójimo;
Porque en la entrega hay vida verdadera."

--From "Prayer of the Farm Workers’ Struggle" ("Oración del Campesino en la Lucha"), by Cesar Chavez (1927-1993)

"Fifty million people [in America] live in poverty and hunger. And we can spout numbers all day, but behind each one of those numbers is a face and a family.”

—Bishop Don DiXon Williams, associate for racial-ethnic outreach at Bread for the World

"When we are rich and others are hungry or impoverished beyond description, justice calls for ending this imbalance."

—Art Simon, founder, Bread for the World

"Bread should be like air, so free/ Always there for you and me/ Surely God who made us all/ Intended us to share ..."

— "Where Shall I Find Bread?," a song from the musical Lazarus.

A new reworking of the musical Lazarus will be performed at Bread for the World's 2013 National Gathering, "A Place at the Table," June 8-11 in Washington, D.C. Register and join us!

Photo: Aidan Rodriguez (pictured) is the son of Barbie Izquierdo, a Philadelphia native whose firsthand experiences with hunger and poverty have made her an anti-hunger activist and nationwide speaker on the topic. Barbie has worked with Witness to Hunger in Philadelphia and appears in the documentary A Place at the Table. (Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World)