Help Fight Childhood Hunger
America’s children need your help to fight for funding for much needed feeding programs. The US House and Senate are making decisions about funding for hunger-relief programs.Hunger in America is pervasive. Food security is necessary to lead a productive, healthy, and active life. It has been reported that more than forty-nine (49) million Americans lack reliable access to the food. Childhood hunger is a growing reality in America. In one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the prevalence of childhood hunger is a national travesty and for many a well kept secret.
Approximately, one in four children in America is food insecure. As is aptly stated in the materials by Share Our Strength i “No Hungry Kid”, “…their bodies may not be rail thin, nor their bellies bloated like their counterparts in other countries, but they’re at risk of hunger all the same. They lack the energy to learn, grow, and thrive.” It is a well known fact that proper nutrition is vital to the growth and development of healthy children.
Statistics on Childhood Hunger in the United States: • According to the USDA, over 17 million children lived in food insecure (low food security and very low food security) households in 2009. ii • 20% or more of the child population in 16 states and D.C. are living in food insecure households. The states of Arkansas (24.4 percent) and Texas (24.3 percent) have the highest rates of children in households without consistent access to food. (Cook, John, Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2006-2008. iii • In 2009, households that had higher rates of food insecurity than the national average included households with children (21.3 percent), especially households with children headed by single women (36.6 percent) or single men (27.8 percent), Black non-Hispanic households (24.9 percent) and Hispanic households (26.9 percent).v
With 46.2 million residents, Poverty, USA, is the largest state in America. Despite recent economic growth more than 43 million Americans -including 14.7 million children – live in poverty, the highest in the more than 50 years that the data has been tracked. Yet a recent Gallup poll found that only 5% of Americans believe poverty and homelessness are important problems for the country. So let’s look at some facts and make our own determination:
Over 25 percent of the children in the US under the age of six live in poverty. The poverty rate among women climbed to 14.5 percent in 2010 from 13.9 percent in 2009, the highest in 17 years. As poverty surged last year to its highest level since 1993, median household income declined, leaving the typical American household earning less in inflation-adjusted dollars than it did in 1997. One out of every six Americans is now being served by at least one government anti-poverty program. Child homelessness in the United States is now 33 percent higher than it was back in 2007. More than 50 million Americans are now on Medicaid, the U.S. government health care program designed principally to help the poor.
According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, 1.6 million American children “were living on the street, in homeless shelters or motels, or doubled up with other families last year”. The percentage of children living in poverty in the United States increased from 16.9 percent in 2006 to nearly 22 percent in 2010. One out of every seven mortgages in the United States was either delinquent or in foreclosure during the first quarter of 2010.
The number of children living in poverty in the United States has risen for four years in a row. There are ten (10) different states where at least one out of every four babies is born to a family living in poverty. 28 percent of all households in America have at least one member that is looking for a full-time job. There are seven million children in the United States today that are not covered by health insurance at all.
Please call your US House Representatives and Senators and ask them to support programs that improve the quality of life for what the Bible terms “…the least of these”. If the line is busy, please redial and call again. Please let your elected officials in Washington know that you care about children and families living in poverty.
Feeding America has drafted a message that you can delivered to your elected officials:
“As your constituent, I ask you to please urge the Senate Agriculture Committee to protect and strengthen hunger-relief programs. My community cannot afford for these programs to be cut.”
We can only make a difference when we take action.
“You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result. ~ Gandhi
“Don’t miss your chance to make an impact, dial your elected officials in Washington DC now!
Source(s): Feeding America. Action Alert Voices for Americas Children. Action Alert Bread for the World. St. Vincent de Paul Society. National Center on Family Homelessness.
Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art
i In 1984, Share Our Strength, was started by the brother and sister team of Bill and Debbie Shore started the organization with the belief that everyone has strength to share in the global fight against hunger and poverty, and that in these shared strengths lie sustainable solutions.
iiRhoda Cohen, J. Mabli, F., Potter,Z., Zhoa. Hunger in America 2010. Feeding America. February 2010.
iiiNord, Mark, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. United States Department of Agriculture/Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2008.
iv Cook, John. Feeding America. Child Food Insecurity in the United States:2006-2008.
v Nord, Mark, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. United States Department of Agriculture/Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2009.
You Can Help Change the World
Research indicates that ten million children die before their fifth birthday every year. Malnutrition and hunger-related diseases cause 60 percent of these deaths. CARE works diligently to help people in crisis worldwide to escape hunger and poverty as well as their effects. CARE needs partners in its fight against world wide hunger and poverty.
With your help, CARE can provide: hungry children a warm, nutritious meal at school to improve their energy, attention and performance; mothers with garden kits, including a spade, watering can and other tools, to improve crop production and income for her entire family; and farmers with handbooks on improved techniques to increase and better manage their crop production.
When women are empowered to fulfill their potential, they invest in their families and work for lasting change. These are a few reasons why CARE works side-by-side with women in the fight against hunger and poverty in more than 70 countries around the world every single day of the year. Please don’t wait for another crisis to help people. Make a gift today to CARE to help empower women around the world create a brighter future for all.
Source: CARE. Photo credit Microsoft Clip Art
.
Activism and Scholarship: A Conference Honoring Amy Swerdlow and Gerda Lerner
Activism and Scholarship: A Conference Honoring Amy Swerdlow and Gerda Lerner
15th Annual Women’s History Conference at Sarah Lawrence College
DATE: March 1-2, 2013
FEE: Free and Open to the Public
LOCATION: Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY
March is Women’s History Month. This March, Sarah Lawrence College will be hosting the 15th annual Women’s History Conference entitled “Activism and Scholarship: A Conference Honoring Amy Swerdlow and Gerda Lerner”. Save the Date.
Featuring: The keynote Address by Women’s Historian Alice Kessler Harris, distinguished professor at Columbia University and Author of A Difficult Woman The Challenging Life and Times of Lillian Hellman
Round table discussion about the life and work of Amy Swerdlow and Gerda Lerner moderated by Blanche Wiesen Cook, author of The Biography of Eleanor Roosevelt Volumes 1 and 2.
Amy Swerdlow (1923-2012), graduate and former director of the women’s history graduate program at Sarah Lawrence College was a scholar, activist, teacher, mentor and mother. She was a founding member and a significant force in Women Strike for Peace, a grassroots movement that greatly influenced the end of above ground nuclear weapons testing, especially emphasizing the effect this had on children’s health. The organization went on to protest the Vietnam War. Amy Swerdlow sat on the national board of the antiwar group known as Clergy and Laity Concerned, chaired the steering committees of two antiwar coalitions of women’s groups, the Jeannette Rankin Brigade and the Women’s Emergency Coalition, and was a member of the New York State coordinating council of the National Women’s Political Caucus. Amy Swerdlow was the quintessential activist scholar.
Gerda Lerner (1920-2013) was co-founder of the women’s history graduate program at Sarah Lawrence and a pioneer in the field of women’s history. It was out of the 1979 Summer Institute at Sarah Lawrence organized by Gerda and the Women’s Action Alliance that Women’s History Week, later Women’s History Month, was born. Gerda Lerner leaves a prestigious legacy of scholarship. She was committed to making visible the ignored and debased, debunking the mythology of the unimportance and inaction of the underrepresented. Her groundbreaking Black Women in White America: A Documentary History, for example, forever shattered elite ideas of who makes history and whose history matters.
The Fifteenth Annual Women’s History Conference at Sarah Lawrence College honors Gerda Lerner and Amy Swerdow’s life and work as committed and indomitable activist/scholars by making issues of peace and justice its central theme.
We still face unending war, economic injustice, potential environmental catastrophe, militarism, institutionalized racism, hunger, homophobia and sexism among other issues. By taking a multi-disciplinary approach, we will explore issues of global peace and justice from a variety of perspectives. We seek to understand the ways in which activists have organized around these issues now and in the past and ask the following questions: What are the issues activists have faced in the past and how might we learn from previous movements? How do current issues intersect and interact and how can activists combine forces to confront these problems and work for social change? With the spirit of Amy Swerdlow and Gerda Lerner as our legacy, can we find the energy and focus to move forward together?
Panel Discussions Include:
Uses of Space: Women’s Global and Local Resistance
Women’s Educational Activism
Transnational Peace Activism
Women’s Efforts for Peace in the U.S. and Great Britain
Women’s LGBT Activism
Women Power for Peace: Linkages in Domestic and International Anti-War and Anti-Imperialist Activism During the Vietnam EraFor more information contact: Tara Elise James, tjames@sarahlawrence.edu
Register: http://www.slc.edu/graduate/programs/womens-history/conference/registration.html
Source(s): National Women’s History Project Blog
Photo credit: Microsoft Clip Art
Help Feed Those In Need
For many Americans, one constant in the holiday season is food. We have food at parties, food at the office, and at social events. During this time of the year, food is often so abundant that one of the common complaints that is heard from people is how much weight they have gained. We’ve all heard it.
It is important that we try and remember that many in our country will have limited or no food at this time of the year. And that this time is just like most other times in their lives- one of hunger and need. This is real hunger, not the growling stomach that you may experience between meals. This is the type of hunger where parents worry if they or their children will eat at all that day, or if what they can afford will be enough. It’s the kind of hunger that negatively impacts health.
According to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture state-by-state report on national “food insecurity,” a term that means hunger or susceptibility to it, paints a bleak picture. During the recent recession, many U.S. households suffered job losses, declining incomes, home foreclosures, and diminished net worth. Food security means having dependable access to enough food for active, healthy living-is vulnerable to these financial challenges. In 2009, 14.7 percent of U.S. households (17.4 million) were food insecure, meaning that at some time during the year, they had difficulty providing enough food for all members of their family due to insufficient resources. Although essentially unchanged from 2008 (14.6 percent), food insecurity remains at the highest level observed since food security surveys were initiated in 1995.
According to the national news, food pantries across the country have experienced record high levels of requests for assistance. As a volunteer at a local poverty program that provides food assistance, I have seen the record level requests for assistance first hand. As a result, the food pantry shelves were nearly bare. These feeding agencies can’t do it alone. As you prepare for holiday celebrations, please keep in mind those who are most in need in our communities and donate to a nonprofit agency serving the most vulnerable members of our society. There is so much that needs to be done to help those caught in the vicious cycle of poverty. Together, we can help the poorest women as well as men, and their families, live, learn, earn, survive — and thrive — in the new year and beyond! With an equal amount of conscience, mind, heart, and collective action –we can improve the human condition.
Sources: United States Department of Agriculture/Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2008 and 2009; Cook, John. Feeding America. Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2006-2008; http://www.share.org; http://www.feedamerica.org; and Food Research and Action Center.
Photo credit: Microsoft Clip Art
“The Least of These”
It will soon be Thanksgiving and in the American tradition, many will prepare a celebration to express their gratitude to God for all the blessings in their lives. Most celebrate with a turkey dinner. It is a longstanding tradition. A record number of Americans will be using food stamps to get by this Thanksgiving.
“About 42.2 million Americans are using food stamps this Thanksgiving, according to the Economic Policy Institute. That’s more than in any prior year, the nonprofit government watchdog group The Sunlight Foundation reports. It may be no surprise, given that participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — the official name for food stamps — has increased 70 percent on average since 2007, according to U.S. News and World Report. In June, food stamp use hit a record high.”
This year’s Thanksgiving holiday, for many families, is filled with worry about how they will pay their bills in December. How would you celebrate if you couldn’t afford to buy the traditional Thanksgiving food? There would be no turkey, no mashed potatoes, no gravy, no dressing, and even no pumpkin pie.
“The boost in food stamp use is just one indicator of how many Americans will be struggling to have a good Thanksgiving meal this year, especially given the fact that the average person on food stamps has a budget of just $1.00 to $1.25 per meal. Food banks are hurting in the face of last summer’s drought which cut into supplies, while raising prices at the same time.”
Many throughout our nation are facing another Thanksgiving holiday that will not include the traditional meal with all the trimmings. Economic times are very difficult for countless families and food budgets, for many, are stretched to the limit. You can make it a better holiday for a family in your community. Donate to your local community food bank and you will help make Thanksgiving a joyous day for many of your neighbors in need. After all, it’s an American tradition. Make a difference; change a life.
Additionally, tell your members of Congress to protect programs that give hope and opportunity to people experiencing hunger and poverty. Reducing our nation’s long-term debt is critical, but hungry and poor people did not cause the problem, and cutting programs that help them will not significantly reduce our debt. But cutting these programs will have a devastating impact on the most vulnerable members of our society.
As Congress considers federal budget cuts, please join me in urging Congress to keep our nation’s commitment to those Jesus called “the least of these” by sending an email. Remind your members of Congress that we put them in office to care for all their constituents not simply the 1%.
Source(s): “Food Stamps Used By Record 42.2 Million Americans This Thanksgiving”, The Huffington Post, Harry Bradford, 11/21/2012.
Photo credit: Microsoft Clip Art
President Barack’s Obama’s Plan for Addressing Poverty and Preventable Disease
As the November 6th, 2012 is fast approaching, it is important to know the Presidential Candidates’ strategy for addressing poverty and preventable disease. Toward that goal, the ONE Campaign[i] asked the US Presidential candidates for their respective plans for addressing poverty and preventable disease. In response to the ONE campaign’s inquiry, both President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney provided their plans for addressing poverty and preventable disease.
Below is the response to this question provided by President Barack Obama:
“Last December, on World AIDS Day, I addressed a ONE Campaign event called “The Beginning of the End of AIDS.” I spoke about building on President Bush’s historic work with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. I announced new commitments to fight the pandemic at home and abroad. I urged our allies to join us as we work toward a once seemingly impossible goal – an AIDS-free generation. Thanks to the work of organizations like the ONE Campaign, this goal is now within our reach.”
“Some of the policies I announced that day were new. But the values behind them were ones I’ve held my entire life. My mother was an anthropologist who worked to improve the lives of poor people around the world. She taught me that no matter who we are or where we come from, we have an obligation to not only embrace our shared humanity but also our shared responsibilities.” “I ran for president in part because I believe our country should reflect a common creed that says, “I am my brother’s keeper. I am my sister’s keeper.”
“That’s why, even as we faced the worst financial crisis in generations, we didn’t forget those who live in the shadow of disease, hunger and poverty. We stayed true to our commitments and our values. We rebuilt our alliances. And millions of people are better off because we did.”
“Living up to these ideals and obligations is in our national security interest. Hunger, disease and poverty can lead to global instability and leave a vacuum for extremism to fill. So instead of just managing poverty, we must offer nations and people a pathway out of poverty. And as president I’ve made development a pillar of our foreign policy, alongside diplomacy and defense.”
“It starts with the fight against global hunger. Spikes in food prices are dangerous, and will grow if a surging global population isn’t matched by surging food production. I’ve announced a new alliance to lift 50 million people out of poverty by supporting locally directed food security programs. We’re recognizing the important role played by smallholder farmers, especially women, in building thriving economies. And we’re focusing on maternal and child nutrition.”
“We’re also working with Africa’s people and leaders to responsibly invest in agriculture and increase productivity. Together, we’re mobilizing private capital to fast-track new agricultural projects. We’ll speed up innovations such as better seeds and better storage. We’re helping African farmers gain access to agricultural data, from satellite imagery to weather forecasts to market prices, right on their mobile phone.”
“And we will continue the fight against HIV/AIDs and other pandemics. My administration increased our commitments to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB, and Malaria to record levels. We’re on track to help 6 million people get HIV/AIDS treatment by the end of 2013 – 2 million more than our original goal. Over the next five years, we aim to reduce vaccine costs, immunize more than 250 million children, and prevent 4 million premature deaths. We’ve lifted the so-called global gag rule that restricted women’s access to family planning services abroad. And we’re doing more than ever to combat human trafficking, which threatens public health across borders.”
“The next four years will be full of tough choices. Some will argue that as we continue to grow our economy by investing in a strong middle class we must put our other commitments on hold. That choice is false – and it’s not one we have to accept. As long as I am your president, I will not write off “the least of these.” What makes us strong is reflecting our most cherished values – making sure America remains not only the place where if you work hard, you can get ahead, but also that last, best hope of Earth.”
“That’s how we’ll move forward, and build a better future together.”
Take action that can and will change the future. On November 6, 2012, seize the opportunity to cast your vote.
As was aptly stated by President Johnson when discussing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, “The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.”
Each election day, countless eligible voters deprive themselves of their voting right through complacency or apathy. Don’t be among them—exercise your right to vote.
Source(s): ONE Vote 2012, Wikipedia.
Photo credit: Microsoft Clip Art
[i] ONE Vote 2012 is a non-partisan campaign to make global health and extreme poverty foreign policy priorities in the 2012 presidential election.
The next president will take office at a critical time when there are effective and affordable solutions available that save lives: vaccines that cost less than one dollar can prevent unnecessary death. A $10 bed net can keep a child from dying from a mosquito bite. With the force of 3 million members, ONE Vote 2012 will educate and mobilize voters to ensure that the next American president is committed to using the United States’ strategic power to help end extreme poverty, creating a safer and more stable world.
ONE Vote 2012 is part of ONE, a broad and growing movement of Americans from all fifty states and all walks of life. More than two and a half million people around the world have added their voices to ONE by visiting ONE.org.
Why Put Children at Risk ?
My question for the day is as follows: Why should one of the wealthiest nations in the world put children at Risk?
Because of the particularly challenging economic times confronting our nation, I often write about legislation designed to improve the quality of life for the most vulnerable members of society including but not limited to indigent children and youth. As a result, I have written about the 2012 Farm Bill’s Reauthorization.
More than one (1) in five (5) children lives in poverty and nearly one (1) in four (4) is at risk of hunger. Often, I write about pending legislation which impacts indigent children, youth, and families with the goal of encouraging the reader to act to protect vulnerable families. I know that ensuring America’s children and youth are connected to healthy food where they live, learn and play is as important to you as it is to me. As a result, I am writing to you today to update on the Farm Bill.
Over twenty-five (25) percent of the children in the US under the age of six live in poverty. The poverty rate among women climbed to 14.5 percent in 2010 from 13.9 percent in 2009, the highest in 17 years. As poverty surged last year to its highest level since 1993, median household income declined, leaving the typical American household earning less in inflation-adjusted dollars than it did in 1997. One out of every six Americans is now being served by at least one government anti-poverty program. Child homelessness in the United States is now thirty-three (33) percent higher than it was back in 2007. More than 50 million Americans are now on Medicaid, the U.S. government health care program designed principally to help the poor.
With that said, Congress is making progress on the 2012 Farm Bill, which provides critical federal nutrition programs like SNAP, formerly known as food stamps that helps to feed hungry kids. Were you aware that more than one (1) in seven (7) Americans receives SNAP benefits?
This week, the Farm Bill is moving in the House of Representatives. Drastic cuts to SNAP are being considered, including proposals that would result in two (2) to three (3) million Americans loosing SNAP benefits and would cause nearly three hundred (300,000) children to loose access to free school meal programs. If Congress cuts funding for this poverty relief program, it will affect millions of children and families, leaving them even more vulnerable to hunger.
Will you join me in speaking up for children right now, by asking your member of Congress in the US House of Representative to protect SNAP from any further devastating cuts? If so, please contact your Representative and ask them to not balance the budget on children and youth. Your elected officials in Washington, DC need to hear from you loud and clear, since the children who rely on SNAP are unable to speak from themselves to our elected officials.
As was recently shared in an action alert from anti-hunger programs, there are a lot of misconceptions about receives SNAP. Lets be clear, without SNAP, many indigent families assert that their children would “probably would not have food to eat.”
For those of you that read this post and take action to prevent further cuts to SNAP, I thank you for taking action on this very important issue and lending your voice to children who cannot protect themselves.
You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result. ~ Gandhi
Source(s): No Kid Hungry Share Our Strength Action Alert. www.congress.org. Feeding America. Action Alert Voices for Americas Children. Action Alert Bread for the World. St. Vincent de Paul Society. National Center on Family Homelessness.
Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art
CIRCLE OF PROTECTION
Bread for the World sends out Action Alerts discussing the “Circle of Protection: A Statement on Why We Need to Protect Programs for the Poor” and encouraging supporters to take action to support funding for programs that serve the most vulnerable members of society.
In the Action Alert, Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, states that, “Everything we have achieved for poor and hungry people in the last 35 years is under severe threat of budget cuts—nutrition programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and SNAP (formerly food stamps), as well as poverty-focused development assistance.”
It has been reported that more than forty-nine (49) million Americans lack reliable access to the food. Childhood hunger is a growing reality in America. In one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the prevalence of childhood hunger is a national travesty and for many a well-kept secret. Approximately, one (1) in four (4) children in America is food insecure. This is not the time to be cutting very necessary programs for the most vulnerable members of our society.
Statistics on Childhood Hunger in the United States:
According to the USDA, over seventeen (17) million children lived in food insecure (low food security and very low food security) households in 2009. ii
Twenty (20) percent or more of the child population in sixteen (16) states and D.C. are living in food insecure households. The states of Arkansas twenty-four point four (24.4) percent and Texas twenty-three point three (24.3) percent have the highest rates of children in households without consistent access to food.(Cook, John, Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2006-2008. iii
In 2009, households that had higher rates of food insecurity than the national average included households with children twenty-one point three (21.3) percent, especially households with children headed by single women thirty-six point six (36.6) percent or single men twenty-seven pont eight (27.8) percent, Black non-Hispanic households twenty-four point nine (24.9) percent and Hispanic households twenty-six point nine (26.9) percent.v
These heartbreaking facts about the prevalence and the face of hunger in America and the proposed cuts to very necessary social service programs has drawn the attention of thousands of Christians, people of other faiths, heads of denominations, corporations, and nonprofit organizations and compelled them to take action. These groups have formed what has been termed a “Circle of Protection” around funding for programs that are vital to hungry and poor people both in the United States and abroad. It has been reported that in excess of thirteen thousand (13,000) Americans have signed a memorandum to their members of Congress, supporting the need to reduce deficits but not at the expense of hungry and poor people. The “Circle of Protection” statement reads as follows:
“In the face of historic deficits, the nation faces unavoidable choices about how to balance needs and resources and allocate burdens and sacrifices. These choices are economic, political—and moral.
As Christians, we believe the moral measure of the debate is how the most poor and vulnerable people fare. We look at every budget proposal from the bottom up—how it treats those Jesus called “the least of these” (Matthew 25:45). They do not have powerful lobbies, but they have the most compelling claim on our consciences and common resources. The Christian community has an obligation to help them be heard, to join with others to insist that programs that serve the most vulnerable in our nation and around the world are protected. We know from our experience serving hungry and homeless people that these programs meet basic human needs and protect the lives and dignity of the most vulnerable. We believe that God is calling us to pray, fast, give alms and to speak out for justice.
As Christian leaders, we are committed to fiscal responsibility and shared sacrifice. We are also committed to resist budget cuts that undermine the lives, dignity, and rights of poor and vulnerable people. Therefore, we join with others to form a Circle of Protection around programs that meet the essential needs of hungry and poor people at home and abroad.
1. The nation needs to substantially reduce future deficits, but not at the expense of hungry and poor people.
2. Funding focused on reducing poverty should not be cut. It should be made as effective as possible, but not cut.
3. We urge our leaders to protect and improve poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance to promote a better, safer world.
4. National leaders must review and consider tax revenues, military spending, and entitlements in the search for ways to share sacrifice and cut deficits.
5. A fundamental task is to create jobs and spur economic growth. Decent jobs at decent wages are the best path out of poverty, and restoring growth is a powerful way to reduce deficits.
6. The budget debate has a central moral dimension. Christians are asking how we protect “the least of these.” “What would Jesus cut?” “How do we share sacrifice?”
7. As believers, we turn to God with prayer and fasting, to ask for guidance as our nation makes decisions about our priorities as a people.
8. God continues to shower our nation and the world with blessings. As Christians, we are rooted in the love of God in Jesus Christ. Our task is to share these blessings with love and justice and with a special priority for those who are poor.
Budgets are moral documents, and how we reduce future deficits are historic and defining moral choices. As Christian leaders, we urge Congress and the administration to give moral priority to programs that protect the life and dignity of poor and vulnerable people in these difficult times, our broken economy, and our wounded world. It is the vocation and obligation of the church to speak and act on behalf of those Jesus called “the least of these.” This is our calling, and we will strive to be faithful in carrying out this mission.”—Circle of Protection
This summer, Bread for the World supporters and others are encouraged to visit or call their senators and representatives at their local offices to urge them to protect funding for programs for hungry people. For further information about shared sacrifice or the “Circle of Protection” visit www.circleofprotection.us.
Source(s): www.bread.org/go/circle. www.circleofprotection.us. www.huffingtonpost.com/…/circle-of-protection-budget-cuts. ww.christiannewswire.com/news/5693716844.html. http://www.uscatholic.org/…/christian-leaders-call-circle-protection. Sources: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture; U.S. Census Bureau; Feeding America (online); Rhoda Cohen, J. Mabli, F., Potter,Z., Zhoa. Hunger in America 2010. Feeding America. February 2010; Nord, Mark, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. United States Department of Agriculture/Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2008 and 2009; Cook, John. Feeding America. Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2006-2008; www.share.org; ww.feedamerica.org; http://www.nokidhungry.org; and Food Research and Action Center.
Photo credit: Microsoft Clip Art
______________________________________________________
iBread for the World Action Alert.
iiRhoda Cohen, J. Mabli, F., Potter,Z., Zhoa. Hunger in America 2010. Feeding America. February 2010.
iiiNord, Mark, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. United States Department of
Agriculture/Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2008.
iv Cook, John. Feeding America. Child Food Insecurity in the United States:2006-2008.
vNord, Mark, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. United States Department of Agriculture/Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2009.
The Farm Bill Passed the U.S. Senate
Last week, the United States Senate passed the Farm Bill by a bipartisan vote of 64 – 35 thanks to the people that stepped up to send an email, make a phone call, and spread the word through social media. The Senate’s Farm Bill provides our nation’s food banks and other emergency food providers with an additional $174 million in funding for USDA food provided through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) over the next 10 years. This is heartening news for food banks and other charitable organizations that must meet the rising demand for food assistance.
It was extremely disappointing that an amendment to restore $4.5 billion in cuts to SNAP did not pass. The good news is that the Senate rejected other amendments that would have imposed even deeper cuts and harmful structural changes to SNAP by a significant, bipartisan majority.
The fight is not over. In fact, it’s just getting started as the Farm Bill moves to the U. S. House of Representatives. Now that the Farm Bill has passed the Senate, the House of Representatives is set to finalize its version and bring it to committee for a vote the week of July 9th. In the House of Representatives, even deeper cuts are expected for SNAP.
In the next few weeks, Hunger Advocates across the nation will have another opportunity to make their voices heard and protect vital hunger-relief programs like TEFAP and SNAP. Will you join us? I will be sending out more information and asking you to call your Member of Congress as that vote nears.
For those of you that sent emails and letters to your U.S. Senators, I thank you for helping to protect and strengthen programs that help to feed hungry Americans. Remember, without a strong federal commitment, we, as a nation, cannot hope to create a hunger-free America.
Please stay tuned for more ways you can get involved in the coming weeks. We can only make a difference when we take action. You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result. ~ Gandhi
Source(s): www.congress.org. www.govtrack.us. Feeding America.
Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art
June is National Hunger Awareness Month
National Hunger Awareness Month is held in the month of June. The overarching objective of National Hunger Awareness Month is to educate communities nationwide that hunger exists throughout the year not just during the holiday season. Food security is necessary to lead a productive, healthy, and active life. It has been reported that more than forty-nine (49) million Americans lack reliable access to the food. Childhood hunger is a growing reality in America. In one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the prevalence of childhood hunger is a national travesty and for many a well kept secret.
For families in need, the summer months present special challenges because they rely on the free and/or reduced school breakfast and lunch programs to provide essential meals for their children during the school-year. These feeding programs are either not available during the summer months or offered only at select school locations making it challenging if not impossible for many families in need to access. With that said, it is important for us to remember to make donations to local community food banks on a routine basis because countless families often turn to these institutions to help feed their families particularly in these very difficult economic times.
Approximately, one in four children in America is food insecure. As is aptly stated in the materials by Share Our Strength i “No Hungry Kid”, “…their bodies may not be rail thin, nor their bellies bloated like their counterparts in other countries, but they’re at risk of hunger all the same. They lack the energy to learn, grow, and thrive.” It is a well known fact that proper nutrition is vital to the growth and development of healthy children.
Statistics on Childhood Hunger in the United States:
- According to the USDA, over 17 million children lived in food insecure (low food security and very low food security) households in 2009. ii
- 20% or more of the child population in 16 states and D.C. are living in food insecure households. The states of Arkansas (24.4 percent) and Texas (24.3 percent) have the highest rates of children in households without consistent access to food. (Cook, John, Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2006-2008. iii
- In 2009, households that had higher rates of food insecurity than the national average included households with children (21.3 percent), especially households with children headed by single women (36.6 percent) or single men (27.8 percent), Black non-Hispanic households (24.9 percent) and Hispanic households (26.9 percent).v
These heartbreaking facts about the prevalence and the face of hunger in America have drawn the attention of many people including but not limited to Oscar winning actor, Jeff Bridges. Jeff Bridges is serving as the national spokesperson for the “No Kid Hungry Campaign”. To ensure that every child has the opportunity to achieve success, we must first ensure that their most basic needs are met.
To get involved in an anti-child hunger campaign or to gain further information on the prevalence of childhood hunger in America, visit www.share.org, http://www.feedamerica.org, and http://www.nokidhungry.org.
Sources: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture; U.S. Census Bureau; Feeding America (online); Rhoda Cohen, J. Mabli, F., Potter,Z., Zhoa. Hunger in America 2010. Feeding America. February 2010; Nord, Mark, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. United States Department of Agriculture/Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2008 and 2009; Cook, John. Feeding America. Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2006-2008; www.share.org; www.feedamerica.org; www.nokidhungry.org; and Food Research and Action Center.
Photo credit Microsoft Clip Art
______________________________________________________
iIn 1984, Share Our Strength, was started by the brother and sister team of Bill and Debbie Shore started the organization with the belief that everyone has strength to share in the global fight against hunger and poverty, and that in these shared strengths lie sustainable solutions.
iiRhoda Cohen, J. Mabli, F., Potter,Z., Zhoa. Hunger in America 2010. Feeding America. February 2010.
iiiNord, Mark, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. United States Department of Agriculture/Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2008.
iv Cook, John. Feeding America. Child Food Insecurity in the United States:2006-2008.
vNord, Mark, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. United States Department of Agriculture/Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2009.
