Bread Blog

Can’t Lead Abroad While Losing at Home

by Roger Thurow

In 2003, while reporting in the famine fields of Africa, I met an American aid worker who suggested I expand my research on global hunger: “You should look into hunger in America, too,” she suggested.

I moved back to the U.S. in 2005, based in Chicago for The Wall Street Journal. Not far from our bureau was the headquarters of America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s food banking network. It was one of my first reporting stops.

Second Harvest (now called Feeding America) was finishing up a report on hunger in America. Its findings, compiled from surveys with its member food banks, were shocking even for veterans of the domestic hunger battle: More than 25 million Americans were dependent on food banks and soup kitchens in 2005, including more than 9 million children.

Four years later, the depth of hunger in America has dramatically worsened, according to the newest survey.

Feeding America, through its network of food banks and the agencies they serve, is now providing emergency food assistance to 37 million people each year, including nearly 14 million children. That’s a whopping 46% increase over four years ago. It means that one in eight Americans receives food assistance from the nation’s charitable food distribution system at some time during the year.

The survey provides anecdotal backing to the report of the U.S. Department of Agriculture late last year that estimated that 49 million Americans, or 16% of the population, lived in food insecure households in 2008, meaning that they couldn’t afford enough food at some time during the year. That included 16.7 million children. Read together, these sets of numbers indicate that not even the extensive food bank network is reaching all the hungry in the U.S.

These findings also mirror the global reality of rapidly rising hunger. In the past 18 months, since the food crisis of 2008 exploded with soaring prices and shrinking surpluses, the roll call of the world’s hungry swelled from about 850 million to more than 1 billion.

Attacking global hunger through agriculture development, particularly in Africa, has become a top foreign policy priority of the Obama administration. But winning that fight requires conquering hunger domestically as well.

For you can’t be a leader in the global war on hunger while losing the battle at home.

At the moment, we’re losing ground on both fronts. The community of nations kicked off the new millennium pledging to cut global hunger in half by 2015. And President Obama came into office last year determined to end childhood hunger in America also by 2015.

Alas, those two goals have become more distant. We’re marching in reverse at home and abroad.

The nature of hunger in Africa and America is vastly different. Most of the hunger in the developing world is a chronic everyday grind that leads to 25,000 deaths a day. In most cases, there simply isn’t enough food available to eat. Starving children, if they survive, are forever stunted mentally and physically.

In America, hunger is measured by an inability to afford the next meal sometime during the year. In America, few go totally without; the wide network of food pantries and soup kitchens enables many people in times of economic trouble to cut back on food in order to pay for housing, heating and medical treatment. Feeding America distributes more than 2.6 billion pounds of food and grocery products to 61,000 agencies nationwide every year. Many family budgets allow only the purchase of the cheapest, high-calorie/low nutrition food, which is why so many bodies are both obese and malnourished at the same time.

While the hunger is different, the solutions are similar: increasing incomes of the poorest. To conquer the chronic hunger in Africa, that means elevating the productivity of small farmers. The emphasis needs to be on food production with proper nutrition rather than food distribution, helping farmers feed their families (and growing surpluses to sell on the markets) rather than relying on food aid. Reversing years of neglect of agriculture development and creating the conditions for African farmers to grow as much food as possible is the aim of the President’s Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative, which the administration now calls Feeding the Future. The president’s 2011 budget calls for $1.8 billion for this program; it is part of his commitment of at least $3.5 billion over three years, which, in turn, is part of a larger $20 billion-plus pledge from the world’s richest countries to boost agriculture development. The targeted African countries will also be making their own substantial financial commitments to agriculture.

In the U.S., a land of plenty, availability of food is sometimes trumped by affordability. Feeding America notes that growing unemployment has been the main reason for the 46% jump in the number of people it is serving. Its survey showed that about two-thirds of the households it serves are without work, and even those with jobs sometimes don’t make enough to assure a reliable supply of food. Nearly 80% of the households served had annual incomes below the federal poverty level.

With these dire findings in hand, Feeding America is urging Congress to authorize the administration’s plans to increase investment in government child nutrition programs. It is also calling for a doubling of USDA’s $250 million annual budget for buying surplus commodities for emergency food assistance programs.

Coming up with the funding, and the political will, for America to lead the hunger fight abroad and at home shouldn’t be difficult. After all, Congress quickly conjured up $3 billion last year for its “cash for clunkers” program. If there’s money for broken down cars, surely there’s money for hungry people.

Roger Thurow’s blog post appears courtesy of the Global Food for Thought blog. Thurow, a former Wall Street Journal correspondent, is a senior fellow for Global Agriculture and Food Policy at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

For more information about hunger and food insecurity in America, please see Feeding America's "Hunger in America 2010" report, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "Household Food Security in the United States, 2008" report.

Rick Steves: What Accounts for Haiti's Chronic Poverty?

Check out the editorial by Rick Steves, travel writer and author of Travel as a Political Act, in today's USA Today. In "Haiti: Behind Door No. 3, Difficult Questions Await," he writes that Americans need to take a deeper look at why Haiti is so poor -- and has been for generations. A big part of the problem lies with unequal trade partnerships between Haiti and more powerful countries, such as the United States. Tariffs and subsidies protect U.S. businesses, Steves writes, but hamper development in Haiti. "In Haiti, fields that once grew rice sit unplanted. And across the street, a shack sells rice grown in the USA." Steves cites Bread's lobbying efforts to bring about more fair trade policies.

Addressing the structural roots of poverty is challenging, but it is ultimately more effective, he writes. Systemic change is what will help Haiti rebuild in the long term.

Low-Income Families Get More Help in 2011 Budget

The 2011 budget President Obama proposed yesterday contains some hopeful news for low-income families -- namely, his budget makes permanent the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansions from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Both of these tax credits put more money in the pockets of low-income working families. In fact, last year the combined EITC and CTC programs lifted almost one in 10 Americans above the poverty line. That includes 5 million kids.

Obama's proposed budget also makes permanent expansions in the size of EITC benefits for families with three or more children, and lowers the income threshold to $3,000 in the CTC. At a time when so many families are experiencing stagnant wages, double-digit unemployment, and rising living costs, these tax credits make a big difference -- these stories show how.

That's why Bread is focusing on the EITC and CTC in our 2010 Offering of Letters. Help us urge Congress to protect and strengthen these key tax credits -- check out out our Web site for more information and to get involved in our campaign.

Colleagues Mourn Methodist Relief Workers

Haitians are grieving the overwhelming loss of hundreds of thousands of precious lives. That grief grips families and friends of the confirmed earthquake victims, among them our colleagues from the U.S. church-based relief and development community.

Hundreds gathered Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina, to celebrate the life of Rev. Sam Dixon, general deputy secretary for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). He died Jan. 16, after spending nearly four days trapped in the collapsed Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince. His colleague, Clint Rabb, though rescued alive, also died as a result of his injuries and was memorialized on Saturday at a service in Austin, Texas. 

The men were meeting with representatives of other agencies seeking better health care delivery in Haiti. Church-run hospitals and clinics, which provide much of the care available to Haiti's poor, are chronically overcrowded, short-staffed, and underfunded. In partnership with local leaders, U.S. church agencies such as UMCOR work tirelessly to provide needed resources, personnel, and medicines. Former Bread for the World faith outreach organizer Ann Varghese was also trapped in the collapsed hotel, but was safely rescued. She now serves on the staff of IMA, an ecumenical organization that channels medical supplies to Christian health ministries around the world.

Friday's service reflected Sam Dixon's spirit – people at times remembering his humor even in the midst of tragedy. We were reminded that he didn't take himself too seriously but that he took his work very seriously. He was committed to spreading a message of hope, and wanted everyone to know that they "belonged." Even as they grieved their loss, his UMCOR colleagues reminded us that the best way to honor and remember him with thanksgiving is to do our "very, very best in Haiti."

Bread is blessed to have many partners who are committed to doing their very, very best in places of human suffering around the world. A tragedy like this reminds us that this commitment is often costly for those who regularly risk their lives in difficult settings, and for families who live with great stress and fear.

Our good friend and Bread board member June Kim wasn't able to be in Raleigh Friday. Her UMCOR work has taken her to the Congo for the past two weeks. While her heart was with Sam's family and grieving colleagues, both she and UMCOR are also committed to doing their very, very best for God's precious, suffering children in Africa. She, too, was in my prayers at the funeral.

Please join me in lifting up all those who mourn Sam and Clint's deaths -- and all those who have lost loved ones -- to God's love and healing power.

Gary Cook is director of church relations for Bread for the World.

The Faith Community Reflects on the Copenhagen Conference

The UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, which started today and runs through Dec. 18, is very relevant to the Bread for the World Institute's 2010 Hunger Report, A Just and Sustainable Recovery.  The hunger report argues that reducing climate change and creating so-called green jobs are key factors for economic growth and reducing world-wide hunger and poverty.

And the faith community is well represented at the Copenhagen conference. Odyssey Networks, a coalition of coalition of Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith groups, is providing daily videos featuring the perspective of faith leaders and organizations who are attending the conference.  Be sure to check the link to the videos daily for interviews with major leaders from virtually all the world’s faith communities about their impressions of the conference and issues related to climate justice.

And the Sojourners blog is providing coverage through its Climate Justice Clips.

We are fortunate to have a representative from the faith community in  New Mexico covering the conference.

Joan Brown, an Albuquerque-based Franciscan sister and director of the New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, will be writing daily blogs from the conference.  She is also at the conference as a Franciscans International Volunteer Delegate. 

Below is an excerpt from her first blog post.  Click on this link to check for her daily updates:

So, why am I going to Copenhagen? What difference will it make? Does this trip justify the carbon footprint?  I am conscious of my carbon footprint. I cannot anticipate what difference this trip makes. Finally, I travel to Copenhagen out of a call.

St. Francis of Assisi, Patron of Ecology, proclaims all creatures, elements and humans as brother and sister in his Canticle of Brother Sun. To really know in our souls and hearts that we are truly brothers and sisters with even the mosquitoes requires conversion that leads to changes in lifestyle and policy.  Humans have a much nobler destiny, I believe, than to be shoppers and consumers.  We are part of the anima mundi, the soul of the world. We rest in the heart of God, Allah, Buddha and from this place we hear our vocation collectively and individually to live in harmony for the integrity of creation and the future.

Foreign Aid Reform: Making Real Changes for Those Who Need it Most

After watching the debate that I outlined in my previous post, I spent some time reflecting about its implications to the work Bread is doing. I found that both sides brought up important points in defense of foreign aid reform (many of which Bread already uses). On one side of the issue is the sheer, abject poverty that exists in the developing world. There is no question in my mind that, in order to give those who are in that kind of poverty a chance to improve their lives and the state of their country, aid needs to be given; moreover, it needs to occur on a government level, since only governments can mobilize the kinds of funds necessary to significantly improve lives.

However, the methods through which aid is allocated need to become more efficient and effective. An improvement in this area requires two paths: a uniform direction and strategy for our government’s foreign assistance, in order to ensure that the aid gets to where it is going more efficiently and a change in the perception of Africa and its needs. The first point I believe can be addressed with legislative action and a change in our government’s foreign aid assistance, but the second requires an immense input by the general population and a change in people’s mindsets. We need a realization that Africa cannot rely on aid alone for ever. Job training and agricultural development need to take center stage in order to create real change in people’s lives as opposed to a constant stream of money and goods. Finally, and most importantly, the populations of all the developing nations need to stop simply feeling sorry for Africa. Instead of treating Africa like a street child simply begging for scraps, the world powers need to take movements towards legitimate equal partnerships with African nations. Only through mobilizing the people into changing the national image of Africa as a beggar, to Africa as a young, but potentially brilliant, entrepreneur in need of an opportunity, can real changes be made. 

It is in this area that a organization such as Bread for the World can make all the difference. It has the resources to educate the general population, the structure to connect the people to those who make the decisions, and the calling to accomplish it all.

I find that these sentiments are very well supported by Paul Collier’s closing remarks in the Munk Debate, which I paraphrase: In order to create change the governments need to get serious. Look at the Marshall Plan, in that situation the government got serious and change was made. However democratic governments act at the will of the people, so the people get the type of aid that they deserve. If they want politicians kissing babies and showing how sorry they feel for the people of Africa, that is what they are going to get. In order to make real change, people need to get informed, and motivate their governments to do what needs to be done and bring legitimate change to the developing world.

Learn how you can get involved with foreign aid reform by visiting Bread's action center.

The Munk Debate on Foreign Aid

 

Monday night, Munk Debates held an incredibly interesting debate on the effectiveness of foreign aid, in response to the growing allegations from many scholars that aid in fact amplifies the problems of the developing world. The debate took place between four leading voices in the discussions on poverty reduction and foreign aid: Dambisa Moyo, Hernando de Soto, Stephen Lewis, and Paul Collier. While the debate was formally set up to be Moyo and de Soto against Lewis and Collier, in reality it emerged to be an ideological debate between Moyo and Lewis, with Collier bridging a sort of middle ground, and de Soto on everyone’s side but advocating a different approach to the argument.

The debate was well run and civil (for the most part), which allowed each of the participants to develop their argument and respond effectively to their opponents. Lewis outlined the amazing victories of aid, such as decreasing child mortality and the HIV/AIDS death rate, building schools, decreasing hunger, reducing malaria, vaccinating children, and providing education. He also preemptively addressed Moyo's argument by pointing out that in the last 10 years aid has become more focused and active among the people rather than just being handed out to the government, increasing its effectiveness and advancing towards the goal of decreasing poverty. Hernando de Soto’s remarks gratefully thanked all of those who advocate for aid and selflessly give so much to developing nations, but stated that that is not enough. Capital needs to be raised by introducing property rights and protecting business deals, as well as helping the poor.

Collier entered the debate stating simply that aid is a useful tool, but not the only one. Aid should be used in conjunction with improvements in other areas (security, trade, and governance) in order to bring the “Bottom Billion” up to converge with the rest of society. Furthermore, aid needs to be targeted and conditioned to the accountability of the governance of a particular nation. Finally, Dambisa Moyo outlined her argument on the evils of aid, stating that Africa is poorer now than it was 40 years ago despite $1 trillion of aid. Moreover, aid has decreased growth, fueled corruption, encouraged inflation and debt, killed entrepreneurship, and destroyed the export market. She ended by stating that her argument was not for immediate, direct removal of aid, but rather a weaning off of it, for no other nation in the world has ever risen out of poverty with an indeterminate amount of aid.

This debate was particularly interesting because both sides were arguing very similar ideals, just in different ways. While it is most likely true that Moyo would not oppose to complete removal of aid, she does argue for a weaning and a transition, something Lewis agrees with simply on a different time scale. Furthermore, they all agreed that the situation in Africa is not sustainable, aid cannot be indeterminate and it must be done in addition to other techniques. Aid should also be targeted towards increasing sustainability through encouraging entrepreneurship and infrastructural development. Finally, the African leaders must take ownership of their own development, accountability for their actions, and leadership in their affairs in order for their nations to emerge from poverty.

- Kaj Pedersen is an intern with the Pasadena Office of Bread for the World.  He is a student at Claremont McKenna College.

The Disapppearing Wages

In the midst of our U.S. (and global) economic crisis, much of the recent discussion in the media has focused on job losses and saving jobs and not as much on whether those who are employed are getting a fair wage.  And in those instances where wages are mentioned, the discussion turns to asking workers to accept a pay cut in order to save jobs or save a company.  While saving and creating jobs should certainly remain a priority for our country's leaders, the issue of just wages and a fair minimum wage should not be ignored. 

And there are many good people who are not letting us forget about this issue of fair wages, including Kim Bobo, director of the Interfaith Worker Justice network.  Kim, who served as Bread for the World's director of organizing from 1976 to 1986, recently published her new book Wage Theft In America: Why Millions in America Are Not Getting Paid - And What We Can Do About It.

Here's is paragraph from the promo of the book:

In what has been described as "the crime wave that no one talks about," wages are stolen from millions of workers in the United States every year.  Between two and three million workers are paid less than the minimum wage.  More than three million are misclassified by their employees as independent contractors when they are really employees, allowing employers to shirk their share of payroll taxes and to illegally deny workers overtime pay. Even the Economic Policy Foundation, a business-funded think tank, estimated that companies annually steal 19 billion dollars in unpaid overtime.

Read the rest of the description of the book

If you want to learn more about this book, Kim has scheduled a book tour in the following cities:

Nov. 19-20 New York, NY
Nov. 21-23 Columbus, GA (SOA Vigil)
Nov. 25 Washington, DC
Dec. 1-3 New York, NY / Montclair, NJ
Jan. 21, 2009 Twin Cities, MN
Jan 28-29 Boston, MA
Jan 30-31 Phoenix, AZ
Feb 6 New York, NY

Click here for exact locations

Order a copy

Kim also authored another great book Lives Matter: A Handbook on Christian Organizing, which is based partly on her experiences at Bread for the World

And if you want to know about the great things she has accomplished since her days at Bread for the World, here is her bio on Wikipedia.

(And she is on Facebook, in case you want to befriend her).