207 posts categorized "Hunger in the News"

Screenshot from Feeding America

What does hunger look like in your state? How many people live below the SNAP threshold? What is the average cost of a meal? What percentage of the people in your state is food insecure?

In an ambitious new online project, Feeding America answers all of these questions and more for each state in their "Map the Meal Gap" interactive feature. See it here. 

Most striking about this data visualization is being able to see dark patches where overall food insecurity and child food insecurity are at 30 percent of the population and above. Mississippi and Georgia top the list of states with the highest percentage of overall food insecurity. 

Take some time to examine the map. Look up your own state and learn how you can take action to reduce those percentages day by day.

Alex Morris, from Bend, OR, depends on SNAP, WIC and other programs to care for André, who suffers from a serious medical condition that affects his hormonal system. Photo by Brad Horn

“Food stamps help families make ends meet, and as the economy improves and families get back on their feet, the costs of food stamps will decrease again. This is the entire essence of a social safety net.”

-Rep. Rosa DeLauro 

Screen shot from PBS NewsHour

This past week, Dolores Huerta was awarded the Medal of Freedom for her lifelong organizing work among farm workers. She is a woman who needs little introduction, especially in the world of community organizing. Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez organized farm workers to achieve better workers rights, and today, Bread for the World is one of several organizations working to continue their work by achieving justice for farm workers. Huerta was interviewed on PBS NewsHour about receiving the Medal of Freedom and about her work organizing farmworkers. One quote in particular stands out from her interview:

"We would say to the workers, you have power. And they would say, what kind of power do we have? It's in your person. And it is in your person. And you, together with other people, other workers, you can make the difference. But you have to remember that nobody is going to do it for you. If you don't get out there and try to solve your own problems, it's never going to change."

Lately, I have been reflecting on my own role in Bread for the World’s organizing department. Our main goal is to establish a circle of protection around policies that protect the most vulnerable in our society. But why do we organize? Why do I organize? 

Simply put, it is because of the cross. When I envision Jesus on the cross, I know what God is willing to do for humanity and the love that we are deemed worthy to receive. The message displayed, both by Huerta’s words and the example of the cross, is that each individual has worth and is worth fighting for.

As an organizer for Bread for the World, this is a message that I want members of Congress to know by heart. Most importantly, it is a way of life that I wish to instill in those affected by injustice, so they can demand a standard of living that they are worthy to receive.

Watch the interview with Dolores Huerta on PBS NewsHour below:

Watch Dolores Huerta Calls Herself 'a Born-Again Feminist' on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Keaton Andreas is a regional organizer at Bread for the World.

Photo by Flickr user ricardodiaz11

Yesterday, an NPR story highlighted a new initiative by school food services in New Haven, Connecticut, to combat hunger among children through the use of food trucks. An increasingly popular form of food service for hip, urban foodies, the food truck is now being used to provide hungry kids in New Haven with food during the summer months when school meals are unavailable. Many people don't know that children growing up in low-income households depend on school meals for their daily food.

According to the story:

This year, Cipriano plans to serve 40,000 meals during July and August. The truck's now got a generator and electric refrigerators. He's serving basic bagged lunches for now — usually a sandwich, a piece of fruit, a carton of milk. But soon he hopes to add more trucks to serve hot meals, or even offer a walk-in truck with a salad bar like the ones that are popular with students at New Haven school cafeterias.

Cipriano’s idea is catching on. The story reports that Fayette County in Indiana is also planning to use a food truck in an effort to decentralize feeding sites so families with transportation problems can still have access to food in the summer.

Keeping children across the country nourished during the summer is a yearly struggle. Back in 2009, Bread for the World reported that “there are far fewer summer food sites than schools providing meals … the result is that about nine out of 10 children who receive free or reduced-price lunch do not receive meals from the Summer Food Program.”

Certainly, churches and congregations can help to ensure that children have access to nutritious meals when school is out by signing up to be a Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) sponsor or meal site. But many churches are already feeling the weight of feeding hungry people in their communities. (Read this testimonial from a local pastor.) So we also advocate asking Congress to continue to support programs such as SNAP and WIC, which would help families gain the ability to serve meals at home that their children would normally receive at school.

+Ask your member of Congress to support programs for poor and hungry people! 

Jeannie Choi is associate editor at Bread for the World. Follow her on Twitter @jeanniechoi.

Screenshot taken from The Chew

Taking the food stamp challenge for a week is a far cry from the reality nearly 49 million Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) recipients face trying to stretch their SNAP dollars to the end of the month. But for celebrity chef Mario Batali, taking the food stamp challenge starts a conversation, and that's a good thing.

The reality for people who rely on SNAP goes beyond just the struggle to eat, and often includes a myriad of other challenges, such as gaining stable hours at work, paying for rent, keeping the lights on, and getting to the doctor. Nearly 99 percent of SNAP households have net incomes below the poverty line (about $22,000 a year for a family of four in 2011). For Batali, who is currently taking the food stamp challenge for one week, planning a week of meals for his family of four on $124 was, “not at all relaxing.”  Batali says, “It’s very much thinking about it all the time, which is what I imagine hunger feels like on a regular basis.”

In a brief backstage interview for his TV show, The Chew, Batali goes on to note that taking a challenge is not the same as living the reality, “It’s easy for us because we all know that next week we are going back to whatever we do. But it’s an interesting conversation every day to think about what hunger is, what food is, what nutrition is -- in a way that really makes us think about it on a much more personal level.” [See the video below.]

Another reality is that SNAP works. In tough economic times SNAP has been a life-line to families. As the economy heals, participation in the program will decrease.

Yet some in Congress want to force families out of the program. The House has proposed cutting $169 billion to SNAP and some have said that the churches can pick up the slack. Proposed changes like block granting would mean 8 to 10 million people would lose benefits that put food on the table. It would require roughly every religious congregation, on average, an additional $50,000 per year over 10 years to make up for these cuts. 

We need your help to turn the conversation into action. In June, members of Bread for the World will be in D.C. for our annual Lobby Day. We will be carrying petitions to our members of Congress that say people of faith find cuts to SNAP unacceptable. We have set a goal that the petition will include 5,000 religious leaders. Sign the petition and please make a commitment to ask your community’s leaders to speak up and defend our nation’s most effective line of defense against hunger.

Robin Stephenson is a regional organizer at Bread for the World.

Marie Crise is able to use her SNAP benefits to purchase fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables at the Abingdon Farmers Market in Abingdon, VA. Photo by Laura Elizabeth Pohl.

We need your voice  today! Congress has been proposing more cuts to programs vital to hungry and poor people. The latest is a vote that the House of Representatives will take soon on additional cuts to SNAP and Child Tax Credits.  Call your member of the U.S. House of Representatives today using 1-800-326-4941 and tell them to VOTE NO on the reconciliation bill. Call now or at least, no later than Thursday, May 10.  

The House of Representatives is using a legislative process known as reconciliation for the FY 2013 budget. (Reconciliation reduces the federal deficit by changing mandatory programs such as SNAP. It instructs authorizing committees in Congress to change eligibility requirements or benefit levels to save money.)

This reconciliation bill, which the House of Representatives is about to vote on, will have a devastating impacts on hungry and poor people. Please call your representative now at 1-800-326-4941 and tell them to VOTE NO on the reconciliation bill.

Here are the basic talking points:

• Don’t balance the budget by cutting programs for hungry and poor people.

• SNAP is a lifeline for 46 million vulnerable Americans struggling to put food on the table. Eighty-five percent of SNAP benefits go to families with children, elderly or disabled people.

• The Child Tax Credit effectively lifts millions of children and families out of poverty every year. In 2010, the Child Tax Credit lifted 1.3 million children out of poverty.

If you have more time, you can also use the following points to expand your message:

• Cutting programs that serve poor and vulnerable populations is not the way to reduce our deficits. Congress must take a balanced approach that maintains our commitment to serving those in need. Form a circle of protection around funding for programs for hungry and poor people.

• SNAP efficiently and effectively delivers food assistance to the neediest individuals and families. A recent study confirms that SNAP not only lifts families out of poverty, but also alleviates the depth and severity of poverty.

• The House proposed cuts to SNAP are tantamount to saying that every religious congregation across the United States needs to come up with an estimated extra $50,000 a year for the next 10 years to make up the difference.

• Food banks have seen a nearly 50 percent increase in demand since 2006. Any cuts to nutrition programs will put an even greater strain on charities and churches providing emergency food assistance.

• A parent with two kids working full-time at minimum wage in our country doesn’t earn enough to keep the family above the poverty line. Refundable tax credits, like the Child Tax Credit, boost earnings so working parents don’t have to raise their children in poverty.

• The bill proposes to cut state funding for services that play a critical role in preventing child abuse, increasing the availability of child care, and providing community-based care for elderly and disabled individuals. In 2009, just some of these funds provided adult protective services for well over 500,000 seniors.

Every time Congress proposes these types of harmful cuts to programs for hungry and poor people, we must loudly oppose it. These types of cuts are unacceptable. We need to continue to put the pressure on the House of Representatives.  So please call today.  

Call your representative at 1-800-326-4941 and tell him or her to VOTE NO on the reconciliation bill today!

David Beckmann is president of Bread for the World.

Federal nutrition programs have continued to be targeted for cuts this Congress.

In March, the House of Representatives voted on a budget resolution that cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps) by $133.5 billion – nearly 20 percent over 10 years – and recommended turning the program into a block grant. Today, SNAP automatically covers all eligible families, responding as need rises and falls. Under a block grant, SNAP would give a set amount of money to states every year, which would limit the state’s ability to respond quickly to increases in need.

In addition to the House passed budget cuts, the House Agriculture Committee was instructed to find $33.2 billion in savings from agriculture programs by April 27. They found $36 billion in cuts solely from SNAP. If enacted, this proposal would kick approximately 2 million people off the program, reduce monthly benefits for all participants, and most certainly increase hunger and poverty.

On the Senate side, the Senate Agriculture Committee continued efforts this spring to renew the farm bill. The farm bill, which governs federal farm and food policy – including SNAP – presents an opportunity to continue, alter, or discontinue federal farm and nutrition programs. As the largest share of agricultural spending, SNAP has been targeted for cuts in this process. The Senate version of the Farm Bill – the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012 – was passed out of committee by a bipartisan vote of 16-5 on April 26. It included $4.3 billion in cuts to nutrition programs. This cut would lead to a drop in SNAP benefits for at least 500,000 SNAP households in 14 states and the District of Columbia.

The House Agriculture Committee continues with farm bill hearings in preparation for releasing their own bill this year. SNAP is expected to continue being targeted for cuts.

Furthermore, the House and Senate Appropriations Committee have begun work on their annual spending bills. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is funded through this process. While the Senate Appropriations Committee has provided WIC with $7.041 billion – enough to cover current and projected caseload – this is only the first step in the funding process. As Congress continues searching for savings, WIC remains at risk.

 Photo caption: (From left) Kate Hagen, Beth and John Lepinski, Laura Gerstl, Todd Post prepare to visit Congressional representatives during Lobby Day at Bread for the World's Gathering 2011 Tuesday, June 14. Photo by William Johnson.

Christine Meléndez Ashley is policy analyst at Bread for the World.

+Tell your member of Congress to protect funding for programs that help poor and hungry people!

Photo by Flickr user silent shot

The dramatic cuts of $169 billion to SNAP proposed this year in the U.S. House would have a devastating impact on all of our congregations’ efforts to address increasing need. 

Every church across America would need to come up with, on average, an extra $50,000 dedicated to feeding people — every year for the next 10 years — to make up for these cuts.

Sign our petition now to say feeding hungry people is not the sole responsibility of churches.  Here’s what a few people who have already signed the petition shared with us:

• “My church is situated in a community of high need in Los Angeles County. Our church's Food Pantry already serves over 400 people per week out of a garage. We are already at the breaking point! The need is real and raw. We absolutely cannot do this without the help of our elected leaders!”
      — Daniel in Bellflower, CA

• “Our area churches are already collecting and handing out food in massive amounts simply to SUPPLEMENT those on SNAP and yet the shelves run empty time and time again. This is not a time for cutting programs that affect our most vulnerable, but a time to stand in solidarity with them.”
      — Katherine in Arlington, VA

• "2,000 folks per month pass through one of our ministries in Gary, IN, homeless and without food. This would be devastating both to them and to us. We are barely making it now.”
      — Bob in Donaldson, IN

We have to tell Congress — and tell them again and again — that they must create a circle of protection around programs that are vital to hungry and poor people. And then we must pray hard that they will listen to their conscience as upright, moral persons of faith.

Thank you for your voice!

Margaret M. Kimmins, OSF is a Catholic Sister working at Bread for the World, and president of the Franciscan Action Network.

+Tell Congress to protect funding for programs such as SNAP. Sign the petition today!

Amelia Kegan (left) and Sister Mary Margaret Kimmins (right) together at the Bread for the World Washington, DC office. Photo by Jeannie Choi.

At Bread for the World, we employ a diverse group of individuals from various backgrounds. Often, this creates cause for robust dialogue on current events. We thought we’d let you  peek into one of these very exchanges – this time between Amelia Kegan, senior policy analyst in our government relations department, and Sister Margaret Mary Kimmins, OSF who manages Bread’s relations with Catholic churches in our church relations department. The two discussed the recent comments made by Rep. Paul Ryan about the House proposed budget, Catholic social teaching, and its implications on U.S. budget policy.

Check out their exchange below, and weigh in with your own thoughts in the comments section!

Amelia: Last month, the House of Representatives passed a budget resolution, and its author, Congressman Ryan, recently spoke about how that budget fits with Catholic social teaching. At Bread, we’ve been pretty critical of that budget because it has some fairly extreme cuts to programs to poor and vulnerable populations and fails to create a circle of protection around those programs. Sister Margaret, how does Catholic social teaching inform your view of this budget? How and why is it different from Chairman Ryan’s view?

Sister Margaret Mary: Catholic social teaching is integral to how we act on our values and on our mission. One of the basic principles of Catholic social teaching is the principle of human dignity. Every person, regardless of race, sex, age, religion, health, or other differences is worthy of respect. It’s not what you do or what you have that establishes this respect. It’s simply by being human that establishes this dignity. It’s the Catholic view that human dignity is not a means. It’s always an end. So we don’t separate any group from what they need to live.

Amelia: So, how does the House proposed budget violate some of the basic concepts of Catholic social teaching?

Sister Margaret Mary: There are two significant pieces of Catholic social teaching: charity and justice. Everyone is deserving of both. In the House passed budget, it explains the concept of charity without the concept of justice. Neither one — charity or justice — is the total responsibility of the church. This budget seems to put everything of the charity on the churches.

Congressman Ryan talks about subsidiarity. Subsidiarity is certainly a part of Catholic social teaching that teaches us how we need to act. But solidarity is being at one with all of humanity, and needs to go hand-in-hand with Catholic social teaching. That’s the principle of human equality, and is part of what we teach our children—to be fair.

Amelia: Should our governmental leaders take cues from Catholic Social teaching when they are not even Catholics?

Sister Margaret Mary: Catholic social teaching is for everyone. It comes from scripture and tradition, but it’s broader than that. Fairness and human dignity are values that everyone has; they’re not exclusively Catholic. Catholic social teaching shows us that each one of us is sacred. We carry the spirit of Jesus within us. The principle of the common good requires establishing social structures that preserve the good of the community. Absence of any concern for or sensitivity of the common good is a sure sign of a society in need of help.

Some in Congress talk about how programs like SNAP (formerly food stamps), unemployment insurance, the EITC, and WIC other similar programs create government dependence, but a community is interdependent. We’re not looking at independence or dependence. We’re related to each other and interdependent in the human community. In this budget, the House of Representatives seems to be legislating for some small percentage of abuse. We shouldn’t be legislating for abuse; it’s morally wrong. We should be legislating for dignity.

Amelia: At Bread, we recognize that our long-term deficit situation is of serious concern. Congress must put the country on a fiscally sustainable path. Those in Congress who support the House passed budget argue that these cuts are necessary to address our deficits, while we at Bread have argued for a more balanced approach. What does the Catholic faith have to teach us about these types of decisions?

Sister Margaret Mary: Catholic Social teaching includes the principle of preferential treatment for the poor and vulnerable, and we must adhere to that principle if the good of all is to prevail. We are called to political responsibility as faithful citizens.

What do you think about these decisions, Amelia?

Amelia: Most economists and most in Congress agree about the need to address our long-term deficits and debt and that doing so will require some very tough decisions. However, whether to cut programs for the poor should not be a tough decision. I’m mystified that we’re even having these conversations about whether we should cut SNAP by $133 billion and potentially throw 8 to 10 million people off the program. I’m amazed that when the House Agriculture Committee is asked to find an additional $33 billion in savings, they take every penny of it from SNAP. I’m astounded that the Ways and Means Committee just passed recommendations that would mean one million families could no longer claim the Child Tax Credit, affecting millions of children primarily in low-income immigrant families. And we’re hearing all of these attacks upon poor and vulnerable families struggling to put food on the table at a time when we have 2.8 million children living on less than $2 a day. I often ask myself, how can this be? How can we amplify the level of outrage about the fact that these cuts are even on the table?

Sister Margaret Mary: I agree with you. I would like Congress to take 30 minutes or an hour of quiet and imagine having little or no access to food or health care or transportation, education, housing. If you don’t have access to what you need to live in dignity and if you don’t have access to the funds that enable you to live, it’s frightening. What we’re lacking is imagination to put ourselves in somebody else’s shoes. How many people have said to members of Congress, this is not right? We have a poverty of imagination. We have to act together in this. We have to act together in faith.

Amelia: Thanks for this conversation, Sister Margaret.

Sister Margaret Mary: My pleasure!

Amelia Kegan is senior policy advisor at Bread for the World, and Sister Margaret Mary Kimmins, OSF is Catholic Church relations person at Bread for the World.

Hunger is a no-brainer. I’d be willing to bet that the majority of Americans believe no child should go to bed hungry. So then why is it the case that nearly one-in-four children go hungry in the United States?

I’m convinced that the reason so many members of Congress are currently proposing to cut programs like SNAP by more than $33 billion is because Americans and their Representatives don’t know enough about these life-saving programs. Instead, they’ve bought into the myths. We’ve all heard the myths: “SNAP is full of fraud," or, “Funding for foreign assistance contributed to our national deficit.” These false statements are spreading like wildfire at a time when Congress is desperate to find places to cut in the budget.  So, one really effective tool for expanding the circle of protection? Set people’s facts straight.

As activists it’s our job to dispel the myths and spread the truth about programs for poor and hungry people. As you engage your local churches, campuses, and communities on speaking up to protect these programs, one of the most effective approaches you can take is to spread awareness that these programs are doing a lot to end hunger.

Take the Tax Credit Mini Campaign, for example. These tax credits lift millions of people out of poverty each year. Yet some people hear “tax credits” and automatically think the worst.

Myth #1: “Tax credits have nothing to do with ending hunger.”

Ending hunger depends on increasing income for families who struggle to cover their household expenses. The tax system can help do just that. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is an efficient, proven, well-targeted way to add resources for low-income working families.

Myth #2: “Taxes are too partisan a topic to be talking about. Tax credit programs will just create more partisan division in Congress.” 

The EITC and CTC have a long history of bipartisan support. The EITC was enacted under President Ford and expanded under Presidents Reagan, Clinton, Bush, and Obama. Conservatives like the EITC and CTC because they provide a clear incentive for people to work. Liberals like it because it is less bureaucratic than other anti-poverty programs, and it restores some fairness to the tax code. In an era of heightened partisanship, these tax credits are something everyone can support.

Myth #3: “Low-income people don’t pay taxes”

I heard this one straight from Senator Scott Brown’s mouth back in 2010 while on a visit to his office to talk about hunger and poverty. First, all Americans pay taxes. While some individuals do not pay income taxes, they still pay plenty in federal payroll taxes, sales tax, and other federal, state, and local taxes. The one-fifth of taxpayers with the lowest incomes pay 12.4 percent of their income in state and local taxes, which is significantly more than the rate that the top 1 percent of taxpayers pay, which is 8.4 percent. The EITC and CTC help offset this burden for many low-income working families.

Myth #4: “Tax credits encourage dependency”

Only people who are working can receive the EITC and CTC. They encourage work because the more money you make, the larger the credit you receive based on marital status and number of children, up to a certain point. A majority of EITC filers receive the credit for only one or two years before moving into jobs with higher earnings. They end up paying back more in federal taxes than they received in benefits over their lifetimes. The EITC is the most effective anti-poverty program in the country, lifting more people out of poverty than any other program.

Myth #5: "Low-income people will just use their tax credit on frivolous purchases."

While it’s true that we can’t control how people spend their tax benefits, the reality is that low-income families run out of money before they’re able to address all of their needs. Research shows that about half of EITC benefits are used for long-term investments such as improving housing, transportation, or paying tuition. The other half is spent on purchases to meet immediate needs such as food, clothing, or catching up on rent and utilities. Bread for the World is looking to increase options for low-income families by increasing their resources.

With so much misinformation out there, it’s no wonder people are skeptical. But as hunger advocates, we know better than to believe these myths. As you and your organization participate in this year’s Offering of Letters, spreading the facts about these anti-hunger programs will be key to getting people engaged. Whether it’s tax credits, domestic nutrition programs, foreign assistance, or international food aid, these programs work. The sooner Americans know that, the sooner we can stop worrying about these programs being cut.

Jen Fraser is a Regional Organizer at Bread for the World.

+Learn more about our mini-campaign on tax credits for low-income families.