“Bread for the World urges members of Congress to restore funding for Feed the Future Innovation Labs, a network of U.S. universities researching innovative ways to feed the world and position the United States as a leader in global food security and research.  

“Housed and led by U.S. universities, Feed the Future Innovation Labs have helped advance solutions to reduce global hunger and malnutrition. The knowledge gained by the labs has led to game-changing breakthroughs, including developing crops that can grow in harsh growing conditions, improving livestock resilience to disease, and strengthening the resiliency of aquatic food systems.”

Earlier this year, the White House cut off almost all funding for the innovation labs, forcing the vast majority of labs to close. On October 1, the White House cancelled the remaining $72 million in federal funding for the labs as a part of its “pocket rescission” of nearly $5 billion in international assistance. Senate Republicans had spared the $72 million for innovation lab funding from the White House’s first rescissions package in July.

Before the White House cancelled funding for the program, innovation labs were based in more than 80 universities across the United States. While a few innovation labs have been able to sustain or resume operations thanks to private donations and funding from individual universities, most remain closed down.

The innovation lab program has enjoyed broad, bipartisan support among members of Congress. Every $1 invested in the program has resulted in an $8 return in investment for U.S. taxpayers.

“Innovation lab research breakthroughs, as well as the education the labs provided, have enabled numerous communities around the world to become self-sufficient. The knowledge gained in innovation labs have also greatly benefitted U.S. farmers and growers who were able to apply that knowledge, as well as the communities the labs were based in.

“The defunding of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab network will have adverse ramifications both in the U.S. and globally. Bread urges Congress to restore funding for this consequential program.”

The post Bread Urges Lawmakers to Restore Feed the Future Innovation Lab Funding appeared first on Bread for the World.

“The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the United States’ most important anti-hunger program. Each month 42 million people rely on SNAP to put food on the table. Forty percent of SNAP recipients are children.

“Medicaid provides health care for roughly 70 million low-income, elderly, and disabled Americans, as well as nearly half of all children in the United States. Studies show that households with children who participate in Medicaid experience significant reductions in food insecurity.

 “We need to be clear eyed and honest – this bill’s passage will significantly increase hunger in the United States. The unprecedented funding cuts enacted in the bill will bring harm to children, families, and vulnerable adults. Additionally, these cuts will have a ripple effect, impacting farmers, small business owners, hospitals, and even entire communities.”

The budget reconciliation bill, which is about to become law, cuts SNAP funding by close to $200 billion over ten years. The bulk of the funding cuts come from pushing a portion of SNAP costs on to states, expanding strict work requirements, and banning refugees and others here lawfully for humanitarian reasons from receiving SNAP. Close to 3 million people could lose their SNAP benefits. The new law will also freeze future benefit increases through the Thrifty Food Plan.

The bill cuts Medicaid funding by $1 trillion and makes significant changes to the program – including adding additional work requirements. An estimated 17 million people could lose their Medicaid coverage now that the bill has passed.

Over the past several months, Bread has worked tirelessly to stop the steep SNAP and Medicaid funding cuts. Bread members and supporters have sent tens of thousands of emails, held hundreds of congressional meetings, and made numerous phone calls urging their members of Congress to reject the cuts.

“God calls on us to care for our neighbors in need. This bill fails that test. Bread will not stop until Congress restores full funding for these vital programs,” added Cho.

The post Passage of Budget Reconciliation Will Increase Hunger and Harm Children and Families appeared first on Bread for the World.

“Bread for the World opposes the White House’s rescission request and strongly urges members of Congress to reject it. If passed, the rescission request would significantly cut funding for international disaster assistance, development assistance, and global health – including lifesaving global hunger and nutrition programs. If Congress allows these drastic funding cuts, countless lives could be put at risk.” 

The rescission request would rescind funding approved by Congress for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 and codify many of the cuts to USAID and State Department programs initiated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Specifically, international disaster assistance would be cut by $500 million, global health by $900 million, and development assistance by $2.5 billion. 

“Codifying these DOGE cuts to USAID and State Department programs will likely lead to more DOGE-related rescission requests targeting global humanitarian aid funding. Congress approves this funding for a reason: U.S. global humanitarian assistance not only puts into action God’s calling for us to care for our neighbors by saving and improving the lives of tens of millions of people every year, it makes America stronger, safer, and more prosperous.”

Bread for the World is a Christian advocacy organization urging U.S. decision makers to do all they can to pursue a world without hunger

The post Bread Urges Lawmakers to Oppose the Rescission Request appeared first on Bread for the World.

The following statement can be attributed to Rev. Eugene Cho, president and CEO of Bread for the World:

“I commend the United States for its strong pledge to the IDA21 replenishment. A pledge to IDA is an investment to address the drivers of hunger and malnutrition, putting sufficient funding and financing into place to deliver interventions at scale.

“With approximately 735 million people in the world who faced hunger in 2023, a strong pledge from the U.S. allows the 78 lowest-income countries eligible to receive IDA resources to strengthen their economies and make progress against hunger and malnutrition. Currently 19 of the 22 hunger hotspots, countries with the most severe and deteriorating acute hunger situations, are IDA recipient countries.

“Since IDA’s establishment in 1960, 35 countries have graduated from IDA and 27 of these countries are U.S. trading partners.

“As an organization deeply informed by our faith in Christ, we believe that God calls on us to care for our neighbors in their times of need, whether they are in the next house, the next country, or the next continent. We are hopeful the next administration and Congress will continue to support strategic investments and interventions addressing global hunger and malnutrition.”

Additional Resources:

• Why We Are Advocating for a Successful IDA Replenishment
• World Bank Senior Managing Director Axel van Trotsenburg interview with Bread for the World President and CEO Rev. Eugene Cho on ending hunger at the 2024 World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings
• Increasing IDA to Reduce Hunger

The post Bread Statement on U.S. Pledge to World Bank’s IDA Fund for Low-Income Countries appeared first on Bread for the World.

COP is the annual gathering attended by countries that are legal parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an international treaty that includes various voluntary commitments to address climate change. For example, as a party to the UNFCCC, the United States has committed to allocate funding to prevent “dangerous anthropogenic [human-caused] interference with the climate system.”  

On Gender Equality Day at COP 28, the U.S. government announced $1.4 billion in investments to the Women in the Sustainable Economy (WISE) Initiative, which Vice President Kamala Harris had launched a few weeks earlier, in November 2023, at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit in San Francisco, California. Among other objectives, the WISE Initiative aims to improve women’s access to financing in green and blue industries. 

The green industry promotes growth in employment, economic activities, and infrastructure that help reduce carbon emissions and pollution, prevent loss of biodiversity, and protect the ecosystem. Blue industries promote business growth and resilience in the agriculture, fishing, green business, and tourism markets for women entrepreneurs. The WISE Initiative aligns with the U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality.

According to UN Women, gender norms, inequalities, and unequal participation in decision-making processes—including at global policy gatherings such as COP—prevent women’s voices from being heard so that they can fully contribute to climate solutions that benefit women and girls, including action on issues such as the impacts of climate change on the food security of women and girls. 

A report launched in December 2023 by UN Women indicates that by 2050, climate change may push up to 158 million more women and girls into poverty and cause 236 million more to face food insecurity. The data from the report is a reminder of how important it is for governments to ensure that women’s and girls’ needs and rights are integrated into policies on climate response. Climate change solutions must not treat “gender” or “women” or “girls” as separate, possibly less important, issues because this impacts the well-being of women and girls in many interconnected ways. Food security, access to education, gender-based violence, economic status, and social discrimination are just a few examples. 

According to experts, climate change continues to drive adverse impacts related to losses and damages to women and girls. The science shows that vulnerability to climate change during hurricanes and other disasters is exacerbated by inequity and marginalization and is a threat multiplier for women and girls.

This gendered lens of the impact of climate change is critical for understanding that political will is important, but also critical are financing solutions that have a gendered lens, because these are key to addressing climate threats to women and girls’ food security, education, health, livelihoods, and safety. Climate finance through initiatives such as WISE can support countries in carrying out their just transition planning and implementation frameworks, so that in practice the financing is commensurate with the harm sustained by women and girls.  

On the heels of COP 28, the WISE Initiative, the U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, and other strategies such as the Global Food Security Strategy, which is operationalized through an all of government approach, will be ones to watch. Their implementation and their progress will be markers of the administration’s commitment to advancing food security, gender equity, and climate financing in mitigating and responding to adverse impacts of climate change on women and girls.  

These results will also reflect whether the U.S. will be a leader or a laggard in the gender, climate, and financing policy space for the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement compels countries signatory to the UNFCCC to address climate change, adapt to its effects, and provide financing to achieve these objectives. 

As UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous said, the rights of women and girls must be at the center of climate action, including at COP28. Ensuring that women and girls have a seat at the table—that they participate in making consequential decisions, are able to secure funding for their plans, and have equal leadership roles—is important not only for women and girls, but for the well-being of all members of society.  

Abiola Afolayan is co-director, Policy and Research Institute, with Bread for the World.

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The United States needs a government funded through appropriations because this enables critical services to operate around the country. The appropriations process is also necessary for the U.S. to honor its good faith commitments to provide nutrition services and other humanitarian assistance around the world.  

Advocacy by Bread’s grassroots members and constituents helped persuade Congress to reach a last-minute deal to keep the government running, a stop-gap measure called a continuing resolution (CR). The CR passed on September 30 keeps essential government functions and programs, including international food assistance programs, in operation for 45 days. It is not, however, an annual budget produced through the appropriations process. 

Negotiators from the administration and Congress had intended to prevent the near-shutdown crisis of September 30 from happening through the debt ceiling agreement. This agreement, known as the Fiscal Responsibility Act, was signed into law on June 3. It prevented a catastrophic default on the federal debt. It also included negotiated funding levels for the annual appropriations bills—set with the goal of establishing a more coherent path for passing appropriations measures that would enable smooth passage of the U.S budget. 

The U.S. Senate plans to honor the agreement and is sticking to the negotiated spending levels. The House, however, backed away from its commitments under the Fiscal Responsibility Act. It included provisions in its appropriations bills that would have eviscerated funding for critical measures such as Food for Peace and the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education Program. 

House debates on these bills were taking place in the last few days before the end of the fiscal year on September 30, adding to the risk of a government shutdown. Bread’s grassroots members helped to defeat these proposed harmful measures, protecting funding for critical lifesaving programs.

As time was running out for the House and Senate to reconcile their different versions of the appropriations measures, the Senate passed a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown. 

The Senate’s posture reflected a bipartisan approach that sought to serve the American people in good faith. The House eventually approved the Senate’s version of the CR. But the brinkmanship cast a shadow of panic and uncertainty over public confidence in the House’s ability to govern as part of the legislative branch and along with the other branches of government. 

Once Food for Peace has been reauthorized as part of the U.S. farm bill and funded through appropriations, its programs will support emergency and long-term development food assistance targeted for vulnerable populations. In fiscal year 2022, Food for Peace programs provided $2.6 billion across 31 countries of food assistance to women, children, and communities in hunger hotpots. 

The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education Program has enabled food-insecure countries to establish school feeding programs for preschool and primary school children in need. Since its creation 20 years ago, McGovern-Dole has provided 5 billion school meals. It has also enabled communities to implement programs that improve nutrition and maternal health in the critical 1,000 days between pregnancy and a child’s second birthday. 

School meals promote education because they encourage families to keep their children, girls and boys alike, in school. They help to boost literacy rates in countries such as Burundi, Cambodia, the Gambia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritania, Tanzania, and Timor-Leste. 

Bread is a faith-based organization focused on promoting human flourishing and dignity by addressing hunger and its root causes, and grassroots leaders have been the backbone of our work for the nearly 50 years of our history. 

Advocates’ passion and commitment to putting their faith into action will remain crucial until Congress passes a budget for fiscal year 2024. The risk of a government shutdown remains since the current CR expires on November 17. 

We must continue to speak out and remind Congress of the global hunger crisis and its responsibility to ensure that the U.S. does its part to save lives and enable people to find ways of earning a living for their families.  

Conflict is driving hunger. Climate shocks are driving hunger as homes, crops, and livelihoods are threatened. The high cost of nutritious food is driving hunger. The 2023 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report tells us that 783 million people faced hunger in 2022. In addition, 148 million children suffered from stunted growth and development due to a chronic lack of essential nutrients, and 45 million children suffered from wasting, the most severe and life-threatening form of malnutrition. 

By working in good faith and in a bipartisan way, lawmakers can make sure that U.S. politics no longer serves as another driver of hunger. Congress can meet its obligations by passing an annual budget that provides sufficient resources for the lifesaving global food assistance and nutrition programs our country already has in place. 

Abiola Afolayan is co-director, Policy and Research Institute, with Bread for the World.

The post Ending Hunger Calls for Bipartisan Cooperation in Congress appeared first on Bread for the World.

“Bread for the World reiterates our call for the White House and congressional leaders to come to a bipartisan debt ceiling agreement that does not expand work requirements for SNAP or cut funding for domestic and international nutrition assistance programs.

“Removing people from nutrition programs at a time when food prices in the U.S. remain high and food banks are stretched to their limits would only add to the hardship those families and individuals face.

“Furthermore, cutting funding for international food and nutrition programs while the world is in the midst of a food crisis – with up to 350 million people facing hunger globally – would certainly result in more people succumbing to malnutrition and death.”

“While we believe preventing a default on our federal debt is vital, it should not come at the expense of those who have the least resources.

“’He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.’ (Micah 6:8 NRSV)”

Bread for the World is a Christian advocacy organization urging U.S. decision makers
to do all they can to pursue a world without hunger

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The post GFSA Fact Sheet appeared first on Bread for the World.

Although the package includes much needed support to help the millions of people impacted by the crisis in Ukraine, general humanitarian assistance funding was cut, and most other global poverty focused development and humanitarian programs saw little to no funding increases.

“While we appreciate the funding for Ukraine, the small increase in funding for foreign assistance falls short of what is needed to address the humanitarian and hunger crises in other parts of the world including Afghanistan, Yemen, Tigray in Ethiopia, and Myanmar, among others,” said Rev. Eugene Cho, president and CEO of Bread for the World.

“We are facing a global hunger crisis and record numbers of people are suffering from malnutrition,” added Cho. Right now, 44 million people are at risk of famine and more than 283 million are facing severe hunger. These numbers will likely go up as food prices rise and wheat exports from Ukraine and Russia become scarcer.

Globally, the omnibus also fails to fund COVID-19 relief efforts. This will hinder efforts to overcome and fully emerge from the pandemic.

Domestically, Bread is also concerned that the waivers for school meal programs in the U.S. were not included in the spending bill. These waivers, which have broad, bipartisan support, enable schools to offer free meals to all students and expand afterschool and summer meals during the pandemic.

“If these waivers are not extended, millions of children will lose access to summer and school meals next school year. And Black, Latino, and Indigenous children will be disproportionately impacted,” said Cho.

Despite these shortcomings, Bread appreciates the inclusion of $2.5 million for a White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, Hunger, and Health and urges the White House to publicly commit to convening this whole-of-government conference to better ensure the policies and programs needed to reduce hunger are duly implemented.

“As the Bible tells us – do not withhold good from those whom it is due when it is within our power to act (Proverbs 3:27),” said Cho. “This bill is clearly a missed opportunity. We cannot reduce humanitarian funding in the middle of a global hunger crisis or ignore the residual impacts of the pandemic on children and families here at home. Congress and the administration must do better.”  

The post Omnibus Spending Bill Falls Short appeared first on Bread for the World.

The House bill expands the Child Tax Credit for another year and makes the full refundability of the credit permanent. The bill also strengthens child nutrition programs; invests in vital maternal health programs; and improves access to high-quality childcare. These provisions would make an immediate impact on the lives and well-being of millions of children and families across the country.

“The fact the House was able to pass a bill right before Thanksgiving that will help millions of families put food on the table should not be lost,” said Rev. Eugene Cho, president and CEO of Bread for the World. “As we enter the Christmas season, we are reminded that God requires us to care for our neighbors and provide food for those who experience hunger. We urge senators to keep this in mind as they work to pass their own version of the bill.”

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“There are numerous provisions in the Senate budget resolution that would significantly reduce hunger and poverty in the United States,” said Rev. Eugene Cho, president and CEO of Bread for the World. “COVID-19 has exposed shortcomings in the safety-net that were present long before the pandemic hit. These provisions will help address many of these shortcomings and provide much-needed support to families here at home.”

We urge the Senate to include the following priorities in the reconciliation bill:

• Strengthening child nutrition programs to help more children get the food and nutrition they need to thrive.
• An extension of the expanded Child Tax Credit, which will cut child poverty nearly in half, and the Earned Income Tax Credit, which will help low-income workers without children.
• The creation of a nation-wide paid family and medical leave program. Just 8 percent of workers earning less than $14 an hour had access to paid family leave in 2020.
• Expanded access to affordable, high-quality child care for lower-and middle-income families and universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds.
• Expanded access to and promotion of equitable health care coverage.
• Lawful permanent status for as many as 10 million qualified immigrants and their families.
• Debt relief for farmers.
• Provisions that would address the climate crisis – a primary driver of hunger globally that causes droughts, floods, and unpredictable weather patterns which make it difficult for farmers to grow their crops.

Many of these provisions are a part of Bread’s 1000 Days infrastructure plan. The plan urges lawmakers to invest in the health and well-being of mothers and children during the 1,000 days between a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s second birthday – a time of tremendous potential and enormous vulnerability. Investments made during this critical time period are essential for ensuring the development of children’s physical and mental health, as well as the security of the most vulnerable families in America for generations to come.

“While improvements to roads, bridges, and broadband are crucial and necessary, we must also invest in the health and well-being of families,” said Cho. “Every person matters to God. And God longs for every human being to live a life of dignity and in good health.”  

The post Bread Supports Provisions of Senate Budget Resolution Addressing Hunger, Poverty appeared first on Bread for the World.

We usually think of U.S. development assistance as funding that the United States sends directly to another country. Bread advocacy generally focuses on winning policy improvements and budget increases for this country-to-country assistance, often called bilateral assistance. Over the years, Bread has worked with Congress and the administration to ensure that projects supported by bilateral assistance include ending hunger and malnutrition as a top priority.

In addition to legislative successes such as the passage and reauthorization of the Global Food Security Act (GFSA), which created Feed the Future, and winning funding increases for important development initiatives such as Child Survival, Bread advocates have lhelped create change within the executive branch. For example, the U.S. government adopted a “whole of government” nutrition strategy after Bread advocates and our partners made the case that early childhood nutrition impacts the entire course of a person’s life.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) manages most bilateral funding, allocating resources to projects in health, nutrition, education, and other sectors. These programs and funds are vital to Bread’s mission of ending hunger, malnutrition, and extreme poverty. In addition, the United States is a key donor and a leader in encouraging other countries to contribute bilateral assistance.

There is another, lower-profile type of U.S. development assistance that also advances Bread’s mission–“multilateral” assistance. Since bilateral assistance is between two countries, you might guess that multilateral assistance is among several countries, and you would be right. The United States is a member of several international financial institutions, usually called simply IFIs.

IFIs include, among others, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. The United States and other donors invest funds in these institutions that are then pooled and made available to low- and middle-income countries in the form of grants or low-interest loans.

IFIs are important to the effort to end hunger since they are the largest source of international finance for many countries. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, IFIs have mobilized record levels of resources to support countries in responding to the health and economic consequences of the pandemic. As Bread has pointed out, surges in global hunger and malnutrition are among the pandemic’s most devastating impacts.

The World Bank, through its International Development Association (IDA), has the largest amount of lower-cost financin available to low-income countries. Since the food price crisis of 2008, IDA has more than tripled its annual financing for food security, from $2 billion to $6.8 billion in fiscal year 2020. Since the pandemic began, IDA has made new commitments of $5.3 billion for food security initiatives, and an additional $6.6 billion for food security is planned for this year.

Notably, half of these new resources will help meet immediate food needs, and half will go to efforts to build more lasting food security. If you’ve followed along with us at Bread for the World, you know that we believe both are necessary and we advocate for both.

IDA has also made available $500 million in “crisis response” funding, intended to help countries prepare for and respond to crises that develop more slowly than a sudden disaster. Hunger emergencies are usually crises that develop over time, not overnight. Hopefully, the funding will enable countries to respond to some crises in the making and thus avoid major catastrophes.

In addition to IDA, the World Bank also houses the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, known by the acronym GAFSP. Established in response to the 2008 food price crisis, GAFSP pools donor resources for programs in food security, nutrition, and agriculture. The funding is in the form of either grants or low-cost loans made to governments, producer organizations, and civil society organizations. The U.S. component of GAFSP is Feed the Future. Since 2010, GAFSP has invested more than $1.6 billion in 39 countries. Since the global pandemic began, GAFSP has allocated nearly $60 million in additional funding to 15 countries to help them respond to hunger crises caused or exacerbated by the pandemic.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), mentioned earlier, is a specialized agency of the United Nations. IFAD was established in the 1970s in response to that decade’s episodes of food shortages, malnutrition, and famine. IFAD is the only IFI devoted exclusively to transforming agriculture, including rural economies, and food systems. It works to make these sectors more inclusive, productive, resilient, and sustainable.

In 2020, IFAD launched a multi-donor COVID-19 Rural Poor Stimulus Facility. Begun with $40 million in seed funding, the facility is expected to raise at least $200 million from other donors. The funding will be used to help preserve the livelihoods and jobs of low-income, vulnerable rural people or, failing that, to enable them to recover more quickly. It does this by supporting agricultural production, access to financial and agricultural markets, and access to new jobs.

Two other important IFIs are the African Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Each has increased its funding commitments to respond to the pandemic. Along with the IFIs mentioned earlier, the two regional banks have invested in food security initiatives such as providing support for farmers to purchase seeds, livestock, and other necessities; giving families cash assistance to purchase food; distributing packages of food; and supporting food banks.

As the United States and other high-income countries with access to COVID-19 vaccines begin to emerge from the pandemic, Bread emphasizes the importance of global vaccine equity. The International Monetary Fund noted recently that recovery paths are starkly divergent for lower-income countries and households compared with wealthier nations. The IFIs need continued support from donors so they can continue to provide urgently-needed assistance to low- and middle-income countries. Such support is essential to preventing even higher levels of hunger and malnutrition, saving the lives of young children, and enabling countries to begin to recover from the economic devastation caused by the pandemic.

Jordan Teague is interim co-director, policy analysis and coalition building, with Bread for the World.

The post Supporting hungry people through international financial institutions appeared first on Bread for the World.

2021 could see the largest public investment in U.S. infrastructure in more than half a century. We should be glad for that. Much of our nation’s physical infrastructure is badly in need of repair. A significant investment could also create millions of good jobs for people who have been unemployed or underemployed because of the economic fallout of COVID-19.  

I think there’s a natural tendency to think of infrastructure solely in terms of physical objects—highways, bridges, the electric grid, and other structures built with heavy machinery. That’s certainly one kind of infrastructure.

But there’s another sort of infrastructure in which the returns on investment are much higher. Here I’m talking about our nation’s human infrastructure—the skills and ingenuity of the workforce, which in turn depend on the health and education of our population.

The U.S. economist James Heckman won a Nobel Prize in 2000 for his pioneering work showing that investments in people during their early childhood yield lifelong returns: they ultimately are better educated and more productive on the job, and they are less likely to need government safety net programs. Talking about “investment” and “productivity” may sound as though we’re thinking of young children as commodities, but our use of these terms is quite limited; it is strictly in the context of comparing investments in human infrastructure and physical infrastructure.

The primary reason governments spend taxpayer money on infrastructure is to promote sustainable economic growth. In the 1950s, President Eisenhower didn’t call for massive investments in interstate highways so that Americans could appreciate the scenery as they drove by. His goals were to advance interstate commerce and improve national security.

The Biden-Harris administration’s plan for investing in human infrastructure through the American Jobs Act and the American Families Plan presents a unique opportunity to advance an infrastructure package for early childhood development. Let’s call it a 1,000 Days infrastructure plan.

Institute Insights readers probably recognize that I mean a specific 1,000 days—the “1,000 Days” that is the unique human nutrition window open between pregnancy and age 2. Readers may remember from Bread’s advocacy on global nutrition that the 1,000 Days is when good nutrition has greatest potential to improve the course of a person’s entire life. Bread has worked on issues around the 1,000 Days in other countries, but of course the United States also has many people in that window, and in this piece I’m talking specifically about a 1,000 Days infrastructure plan for the United States.

As an anti-hunger organization, Bread pays particular attention to nutrition. The U.S. nutrition program tailored to people in the 1,000 Days—it seems more natural to think of them as pregnant women, babies, and toddlers—is WIC. WIC does a pretty good job of reaching lower-income women and their babies with nutritional support, and it could be even better with a few specific policy changes. But the 1,000 Days infrastructure we need is much broader in scope than WIC.

Major weaknesses in other parts of the 1,000 Days infrastructure are not only causing the United States to miss out on much of the positive impact that could be made during this nutritional window of opportunity, but are also reducing the effectiveness of WIC.

WIC is associated with reduced rates of maternal and infant mortality. But U.S. maternal and infant death rates are higher than those of any other high-income country. Few health indicators speak to the need to center racial equity in the 1,000 Days infrastructure more starkly than those on maternal mortality. Black women are far more likely to die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth: their death rate is more than three times that of whites.

Health care is inseparable from all other parts of a 1,000 Days infrastructure. Without it, the entire edifice is weakened. Most families eligible for WIC are already receiving Medicaid. Better coordination between WIC and Medicaid would improve services in both. For example, both WIC and Medicaid provide support for breastfeeding, and they could coordinate more closely, drawing on WIC’s proven strength in culturally competent peer support.

The United States has much lower rates of breastfeeding than other high-income countries. This is one consequence of the fact that the United States is also the only high-income country that has no national paid leave policy.

Nearly one in four U.S. women return to their jobs within two weeks of giving birth, which makes it difficult or impossible to establish and continue breastfeeding. The Family and Medical Leave Act provides for 12 weeks of unpaid leave, but low-income women can ill afford to take time off without pay. Some employers voluntarily offer paid leave, but this almost always goes to higher-earning professionals rather than women who participate in WIC or Medicaid.

I hope you’re seeing how the pillars of a 1,000 Days infrastructure plan reinforce each other. This piece can only briefly mention a few components of a comprehensive 1,000 Days infrastructure plan. Suffice it to say there are many more.

In a recent blog post, I discussed the temporary expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) in the American Rescue Plan. This expansion is expected to cut child poverty nearly in half. Poverty and food insecurity occur at higher rates in families with young children. Critics of the expansion contend, without evidence, that it will discourage parents, particularly mothers, from working. Low-income parents simply cannot afford not to work. What prevents parents, mostly mothers, from working—more than anything else—is  lack of affordable, accessible child care.

Bread President Rev. Eugene Cho and Blythe Thomas, Director of 1,000 Days, explain what a 1,000 Days infrastructure would accomplish in an op-ed published in The Hill.

WIC, Medicaid, paid leave, child care, and CTC expansion are some of the essential elements of a 1,000 Days infrastructure. Individually, each is vital to positive outcomes during the 1,000 Days; together and aligned, they are a transformational investment in the nation’s human infrastructure—our next generation.

Todd Post is senior researcher, writer, and editor with Bread for the World Institute.

The post The infrastructure plan our country needs appeared first on Bread for the World.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes a one-year expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC), making the credit available to all low-income families with children.

Before the expansion, an estimated 27 million children under age 17 lived in families who did not earn enough to qualify for the full CTC for children because they did not have sufficient taxable income. These are families in which food insecurity and hunger are widespread.

Young children are more vulnerable than any other group to the damaging impacts of hunger even for short periods. At the same time, families with young children are more likely to face hunger than those with older children. This is why additional monthly resources are especially important for young children.

All children stand to benefit from CTC expansion, but children from groups that have disproportionately high hunger rates will benefit most. Poverty among Black children will be cut by an estimated 52 percent, among Latino children by 45 percent, among Native American children by 62 percent, among Asian American and Pacific Islander children by 37 percent, and among white children by 39 percent.

A CTC expansion not only contributes to better life prospects for the most vulnerable children in the country but also offers a good return on investment. In a way, the United States cannot afford not to reduce poverty among children, because every year, it costs the economy between $800 million and $1.1 trillion. The costs come in lower productivity, higher healthcare costs, and the need to spend more on public safety, services for homeless people, incarceration, and care for survivors of child abuse.

Major components of the CTC expansion:

• Increases the benefit from $2,000 per year to $3,600 for children up to age 6 and to $3,000 for children 6-17.
• Delivers monthly installments of $300 per month for each younger child and $250 per month for each older child.
• Equally available to all families starting at $0 income through middle-income status.

CTC expansion is a big deal, and we should feel great it was included in the American Rescue Plan. But we aren’t done yet. Now we must work to make the expansion permanent.

Expanding the CTC would do more to reduce hunger and poverty among our nation’s children than single policy in decades

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March is Women’s History Month in the United States, and on March 8, the world observed International Women’s Day. First and foremost, gender equity is a critical component of respect for human rights. It is also essential for every country intent on building a more prosperous future, without hunger, malnutrition, or any of humanity’s many other longstanding problems. No community can meet its goals if half its people are blocked from using all their talents to help meet those goals.

It goes without saying that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly all facets of life for women around the globe. But before I say anything more about the pandemic’s global impact, I want to celebrate a significant victory for children in the United States. Please see our recent blog post for the details of a particularly important provision of the recently passed American Rescue Plan—the expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC). It may not seem important at first glance, but experts expect that it will cut child poverty nearly in half.

For the past several years, Bread for the World members have been urging Congress to improve two tax provisions with the potential to help many more families living with food insecurity: the CTC and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The work of Bread’s grassroots advocates made a difference as a CTC expansion was included in the American Rescue Plan. Thank you and congratulations to all who supported improvements in the CTC and EITC!    

As the pandemic enters its second year, many people have paused to reflect on the enormous damage to virtually every country on Earth in only one year. In addition to the suffering of patients themselves and their families, even larger numbers have been forced to go without necessities as the global economy was brought nearly to a halt. Hundreds of millions of people lost their means of earning a living, whether that had been in a profession or job, or in the so-called “informal sector,” where people work as smallholder farmers, market women, tailors, midwives, and in many other capacities to sustain their communities and feed themselves and their families.

As noted most recently, another major impact of lockdowns and other restrictions imposed for public health reasons is that many people have been unable to access basic health care. This is particularly dangerous for young children, many of whom have missed screenings for malnutrition and immunizations against childhood diseases that remain deadly in many countries.

Recently we have also taken a look at the grim consequences of the pandemic for people living in situations that were already extremely difficult. In regions such as the Sahel, which stretches along the southern edge of Africa’s Sahara Desert, countries such as Burkina Faso and Niger had extremely high rates of child malnutrition during “normal” times, significant armed conflict, and frequent disasters linked to climate change.

In areas around the world that, like the Sahel, are severely affected by conflict and climate change, the pandemic has caused soaring rates of hunger and malnutrition. The number of people in acute hunger emergencies has more than doubled, to an estimated 271.8 million.

Women are facing particular hardships due to pervasive gender discrimination. The World Health Organization reports that in Africa, for example, the pandemic is worsening gender inequality and causing millions of women great physical, mental, and economic distress. The burdens of unpaid, labor-intensive household chores fall mainly on women, as does responsibility for caring for children. In many societies, this includes ensuring that children have food and clothing.

Women with small businesses have been hit hard. Oulimata Sarr, regional director of U.N. Women in West and Central Africa, said that the results of a study in 30 countries of 1,300 female-owned businesses found that, “The message is the same. We have lost the vast majority of our revenue.”

She added that some countries responded by giving women food and some cash transfers instead of capital to keep their businesses afloat, while in several countries, governments have given stimulus checks and packages to a number of well-organized business associations, most run by men. Sarr said that governments in the region need to respond to this gender financing gap.
 
There is much more that could be said about gender equity and hunger in the context of the pandemic, ranging from women’s higher rates of unemployment to persistent reports of significant increases in domestic violence. But as COVID-19 vaccine supplies begin to arrive in lower-income countries, and the people of many countries have become increasingly adept at protecting themselves and their families from being exposed to the virus, I prefer to look ahead to spring in the hope that this year, hundreds of millions of people will be able to take significant steps to a better life.

Michele Learner is managing editor with Bread for the World Institute.

The post A Year Later: Regaining momentum appeared first on Bread for the World.

“Bread for the World is thankful Congress passed and the president signed the stopgap spending bill. The bill provides $8 billion in nutrition assistance for children and families who struggle with hunger and poverty due to COVID-19 and expands and extends the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer Program (P-EBT). P-EBT enables parents to buy groceries to cover the cost of school breakfasts and lunches their children miss because schools are closed. Since its implementation, P-EBT has kept millions of children out of hunger. We especially want to thank Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader McConnell for including the measure in the bill.”

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“Our country’s 350,000 religious congregations cannot make up for the proposed cuts to programs that help people living in hunger and poverty, including children,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “The amount the congregations would need to raise is larger than many of their annual budgets.”

Critics of federal assistance programs often say it is churches and other religious congregations, not the government, who should be helping people living in hunger and poverty.

“While religious congregations and charities play an important role in helping people who are struggling to make ends meet, federal programs provide the bulk of the assistance,” said Beckmann.

The proposed budget would cut more than $1.3 trillion from domestic and international aid programs over ten years. Domestically, these cuts include $181 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), $1 trillion from Medicaid and Affordable Care Act tax credits, and $1.7 billion from child nutrition programs such as school meals. Internationally, the cuts include $60 million in global nutrition programs, programs that help struggling farmers, and the elimination of the McGovern-Dole international school feeding program.

“A budget is more than a financial statement—it is a statement of our nation’s priorities and values. It should be evaluated on how it treats the most vulnerable people among us,” said Beckmann.

“As a Christian, I believe that God calls on me to care for ‘the least among us’ – be it through charity or advocating for policies and programs that help people living in hunger and poverty,” added Beckmann.

The post Every Religious Congregation Would Need to Raise $375,000 More a Year to Offset White House Budget Cuts appeared first on Bread for the World.

“We are alarmed by the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2021 budget, which would drastically cut funding for programs for people living in hunger and poverty. We will continue to work with Congress to hold back these harmful cuts. Unfortunately, the administration has repeatedly found other means of pursuing its budget cuts through rulemaking and administrative action. Congress must rein in the administration’s rulemaking.”    

The post Statement on the White House FY 2021 Budget appeared first on Bread for the World.

A one-page fact sheet for hunger in the United States, and for each state plus Washington, D.C. Each fact sheet provides these indicators of hunger and poverty: the proportion of households in the state that struggle to put food on the table, the number of people living in counties with poverty rates of 20 percent, the number of veterans living below the poverty line, and more.

Ending Hunger by 2030

The United States has made significant progress against hunger and poverty over the past 50 years. But too many people are being left behind. Ending hunger and poor nutrition in the U.S. calls for comprehensive strategies that promote racial, gender, and class equity and take into account differences in personal, family, and community circumstances. Even more important, it requires the political will to turn these ideas into legislation. The United States should:

• Create jobs that pay
  Millions of workers are paid so little that they cannot feed their families. The best, most lasting way to end hunger is to ensure that people have access to jobs that pay enough to support their families. The United States can move in the right direction by making essential improvements through legislation and policies.
• Invest in people
  To be successful, people must have access to the tools they need. Government plays an important role in ensuring that everyone has their basic needs met and benefits from equitable opportunities. Targeted investments should be made in communities with the highest hunger rates.
• Strengthen the safety net
  Most people need some help at some point in their lives and everyone should have access to help in hard times. The United States should strengthen national nutrition programs such as school meals, summer meals, SNAP, and WIC. Essential social programs should be a consistent national priority and they should be provided in an equitable manner.
• Remove obstacles to earning a decent living
  Discriminatory practices should be ended and the playing field should be leveled for communities at higher risk of hunger by providing targeted support. These include people of color, women, and children, particularly women and children of color. Laws against racial, gender, and other forms of discrimination should be enforced, and a racial, gender, and class equity lens should be applied to all nutrition, anti-hunger, and anti-poverty programs and policies

Hunger and Poverty Facts by State

The post U.S. Hunger and Poverty State Fact Sheets appeared first on Bread for the World.

Nearly half of all child deaths worldwide—that is, nearly 2.5 million preventable deaths of children under the age of 5 every year—are related to malnutrition. Much larger numbers of young children—149 million, or nearly one in every four—are affected by chronic malnutrition.

Malnutrition should not claim young lives and damage children’s health and futures in our time—particularly on such an enormous scale. The persistence of malnutrition is, at its core, an issue of global inequities as the majority of impacted families live in countries in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Central America.

But there is good news! We have the knowledge and tools to improve nutrition, and global nutrition programs have worked. Peru, Ghana, and Kenya have rapidly reduced their rates of stunting (a sign that children have survived chronic malnutrition very early in life) since 2000. Perhaps best of all: more than 16 million fewer children under the age of 5 are stunted today than in 2012.

Improved nutrition for women and children will allow countries to improve health overall, put more kids in school, and expand their own economic growth. Bread for the World and its partners are asking Congress to provide $200 million for global nutrition in the fiscal year 2020 budget to jumpstart efforts to make faster progress on global nutrition and help the United States spur action from other partners.

Nearly half of all child deaths worldwide are related to malnutrition

The post Fact Sheet: Why We Need $200 Million for Global Nutrition Programs appeared first on Bread for the World.

“There is no way our country’s 350,000 religious congregations can make up for the proposed cuts to programs that help people facing hunger and poverty, including children and the elderly,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “While religious congregations and charities play an important role, federal programs provide ten times more in food assistance.”

The proposed budget would cut $1.4 trillion from domestic and international assistance programs over ten years. Domestically, these cuts include $220 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), $1.1 trillion from Medicaid, and $1.7 billion from child nutrition programs such as school meals.

The proposed budget cuts to international humanitarian and development assistance include a reduction of $66.5 million to global nutrition programs and a $508 million cut to Feed the Future – nearly a halving of both programs. The budget eliminates the McGovern-Dole international school feeding program and the Food for Progress program.

“A budget is more than a financial statement—it is a statement of our nation’s priorities and values. It should be measured on how it treats the most vulnerable people among us,” Beckmann said.

A high-resolution version of the graphic is available upon request.

The post Every Church Would Need to Raise $400,000 More a Year to Offset Proposed Budget Cuts appeared first on Bread for the World.

“Bread for the World calls on Congress to pass and the President to sign the bipartisan funding deal. While this deal is not perfect, it is a compromise that will ensure hundreds of thousands of low-income families will continue to receive nutrition and housing assistance. However, we were disappointed that the deal included harmful border enforcement provisions and did not add additional funding to address the root causes of migration from Central America. After this vote, Congress should immediately work to fund $600 million for Puerto Rico’s Nutrition Assistance Program.

“It is encouraging to see that global nutrition received a $20 million increase. This increase is greatly needed and will provide nutrition in the first 1,000 days between the start of a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s second birthday. In FY 2020, we urge Congress and the administration to increase funding for global nutrition and the root causes of migration from Central America.”

The post Bread Statement on Government Funding Deal appeared first on Bread for the World.

Good nutrition during the 1,000 days from a woman’s pregnancy to her child’s second birthday is crucial to ensuring the child’s health, physical growth, and brain development. Assisting mothers and children with nutrition must be accompanied by good bodily and household care practices, clean environments, and access to health services.

A great deal of progress has been made globally in reducing malnutrition, but there is still a long way to go. We need to accelerate progress on maternal and child nutrition to ensure that all women and children are able to live dignified, healthy lives. Nearly half of all preventable child deaths are linked to malnutrition, and in 2017, 151 million children were physically stunted, a consequence of chronic malnutrition.

Early childhood malnutrition also stunts a child’s future, limiting his or her ability to grow, learn, earn a living, become self-sufficient, and move out of poverty, due to malnutrition’s harmful effects on cognitive growth as well. Children suffering from poor nutrition are more vulnerable to illnesses in their early years and into adulthood. Expectant mothers who are malnourished are at higher risk of bearing malnourished children, perpetuating an intergenerational cycle of malnutrition.

As one of the largest donors to global maternal and child health programs, the U.S. has long led the international community in efforts to improve child survival. Through the 1,000 Days Partnership, the U.S. has helped raise awareness about the devastating impact of malnutrition and mobilized support for the global Scaling Up Nutrition Movement. The Sustainable Development Goals adopted by all nations in September 2015 aim to end hunger, malnutrition, and preventable child deaths by 2030. To
help achieve these ambitious and transformative goals, the U.S. must demonstrate continued leadership in improving global nutrition.

Experts in economics agree that fighting malnutrition should be the top priority for policy makers and philanthropists.

Copenhagen Consensus, 2012

The post Fact Sheet: Fortified for Life. How the U.S. Government Supports Global Nutrition. appeared first on Bread for the World.

In 2017, 11.8 percent of households in the U.S.—40 million people—were food-insecure, meaning that they were unsure at some point during the year about how they would provide for their next meal. While the number of food insecure households is still too high, it has been declining since the post-recession high of 14.9 percent in 2011.

Unfortunately, the overall food insecurity rate has not recovered to pre-recession levels. In 2007, 11.1 percent of U.S. households experienced food insecurity, compared to 11.8 percent in 2017. At the rate of decrease we saw this year, the United States would not end hunger until 2040.

All the nations of the world have agreed on development goals for 2030, including the goal of ending hunger. To end hunger by 2030, our country needs to see the same decreases it saw from 2014 to 2015, when the rate of food insecurity declined at a statistically significant rate of 1.3 percent. Ending hunger by 2030 will require strong political commitment and a comprehensive approach to address hunger’s root causes and accelerate progress.

Fact: More than 1 in 6 children in the United States live at risk of hunger

The post Fact Sheet: Hunger by the Numbers [2018] appeared first on Bread for the World.

The military community includes both people on active duty (more than 1.3 million) and veterans (20 million). There are also 800,000 reserve forces. The five branches of the U.S. military are the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard. U.S. military personnel come from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

About 23,000 active duty personnel received benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, previously food stamps) in 2013, the latest year for which statistics are available. This is a lower percentage than hunger rates for the average U.S. household (2 percent versus 12.3 percent). However, no one helping to defend our country should struggle to put food on the table.

Similarly, veterans experience hunger at just over half the national rate (7 percent v. 12.3 percent). Nearly 1.4 million veterans face food insecurity. Veterans are at higher risk of food insecurity if any of the following apply to them: they are younger, they left the military at a lower pay grade than is typical, they earn less at their post-military jobs, they are unmarried, or they live in households with more children than the typical veteran.

More than 1.25 million veterans live below the poverty line. Young veterans, veterans of color, and female veterans are the most vulnerable. 10 percent of young veterans are poor. Veterans of color are twice as likely to live in poverty as the overall veteran population (14 percent compared to 7 percent). 

Female veterans are much more likely to be poor than male veterans (10.3 percent compared to 6.5 percent). Veterans who fit into two or more of these groups are even more likely to live below the poverty line. For instance, young female veterans have a higher poverty rate than either female or young veterans as a whole—almost 14 percent. These disparities are primarily due to varying forms of racial and gender discrimination and inequities.

“About 23,000 active duty personnel received SNAP benefits in 2013, the latest year for which statistics are available”

The post Fact Sheet: Hunger and Poverty in the Military Community appeared first on Bread for the World.

Bread for the World Institute

Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation

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Key Facts About SNAP

• SNAP works exactly as it’s supposed to. SNAP was designed to respond quickly and efficiently to increases in need. When poverty and unemployment spiked in 2008, 2009, and 2010, so did SNAP participation.
• SNAP reaches exactly whom it’s supposed to. The average SNAP household has a gross monthly income of $813. This is well below the strict national income limits. Ninety two percent of SNAP benefits go to households with incomes at or below the poverty line.
• SNAP participation increased mainly due to the poor economy. The largest increases in SNAP participation came on the heels of the recession.
• SNAP encourages work. Employment rates among households with children and at least one non-disabled adult rose nearly 10 percent from 2009 to 2015, the Great Recession years.
• SNAP fraud is the exception, not the rule. The USDA tracks two types of SNAP fraud data: trafficking and error rate. The majority of SNAP payment errors are a result of administrative errors, not intentional fraud.
• Charity alone can’t feed everyone. Our federal nutrition programs deliver more than 19 times the amount of food assistance as private charitable sources.

SNAP is a lifeline for millions of Americans. Congress must do its part to end hunger by protecting SNAP.

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“With this bill, the threat of massive cuts to anti-poverty programs has been put on hold. 

“The president and this Congress had both approved budgets that outlined cuts of more than $2 trillion from programs that help people in poverty. But thankfully, anti-poverty programs fared well in the negotiations of the last month. In fact, Congress has not finalized any significant cuts to anti-poverty programs since the Trump administration began.    

“Bread for the World has taken up an ‘offering’ from churches across the country – not an offering of money, but of letters to Congress urging continued funding for programs that help to reduce hunger and poverty in our country and around the world. Churches organized hundreds of letter-writing events across the country, resulting in hundreds of thousands of hand-written letters and personalized emails to their lawmakers. Clearly, Congress heard our message.

“Our celebration is tempered by the dramatic increase in deficit spending — $2 trillion over the last four months, mostly for tax cuts for high-income people. Only 3% of this deficit spending went to programs for low-income people. So, when Congress gets serious about deficit reduction again – as they should do – no one should propose fixing the problem by cutting programs for people in poverty.”

The post Bread for the World Statement on the FY 2018 Omnibus appeared first on Bread for the World.

The launch falls as the Trump administration has released its fiscal year 2019 budget.

“As we saw in the president’s budget proposal, programs that provide help and opportunity to people in need are under threat in Washington,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “Through the Offering of Letters, tens of thousands of faithful advocates will call upon Congress to maintain funding for programs that help hungry and poor people in our country and around the world.”  

President Trump’s budget would make massive cuts to programs that help people experiencing hunger and poverty, including domestic nutrition programs such as SNAP and aid to countries on the brink of famine.

“Budget cuts are now the biggest threat to people struggling with hunger and poverty,” Beckmann said.

The name of the letter-writing campaign, “For Such a Time as This,” references Esther from the Old Testament – who saved her people from destruction through advocacy (Esther 4).

During an Offering of Letters, participants write letters, usually as a group, and present them as an offering to God before mailing them to Congress. Hundreds of Offerings of Letters campaigns are held each year across the country, resulting in hundreds of thousands of hand-written letters and personalized emails to Congress.

“Just as Queen Esther from the Bible was called to stand up and advocate on behalf of her people, we are called to stand up and advocate for families who are struggling now,” Beckmann said.

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Bread believes that any continuing resolution passed by Congress must:

Increase funding for non-military programs

• Programs such as Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), nutrition assistance for low-income seniors, and international assistance are just a few of examples of the many programs that could face significant cuts without sequester relief.

Enact bipartisan legislation that provides Dreamers with a pathway to citizenship and keeps immigrant families together. 

• Bread is encouraged by the recent bipartisan proposals in both the House and the Senate. Leaving DACA recipients and other Dreamers in limbo violates our nation’s values. Providing them with a pathway to citizenship would allow these young people to move forward with their lives and get better jobs.

Fully fund and reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

• Young children in every state in America rely on the CHIP for their health care, and millions of children could begin to lose their health care coverage as early as this month. No family should have to worry about how their children will get needed health care.

Provide disaster relief for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Texas, Florida, and California.

• We are especially concerned about the continued suffering endured by Puerto Rico.

“We pray that our nation’s leaders can reach an agreement and approve these four measures,” Beckmann said.

The post What Should Be Included in a Continuing Resolution appeared first on Bread for the World.

The same budget resolution that permits $1.5 trillion in deficit spending for tax cuts outlines more than $2 trillion in cuts to low-income programs such as SNAP and Medicaid.

The direct benefits of the House tax bill would go mainly to high-income people, with mixed impacts among middle-income families and no help for low-income families.

In fact, it could load lots of new paperwork and delay on many low-income workers who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit. It would end the Child Tax Credit for three million children in low-income immigrant families. The average annual income for these working families is $21,000 a year, and they would lose an average of $1,800.

The bill also eliminates the New Market Tax Credit, which has done more to fight food deserts than any other program to date and has created up to 750,000 jobs in low-income communities.  

The bill’s defenders argue that it will boost the job market. While deficit spending is likely to boost to the economy, the corporate sector already has cash reserves they are not investing, and high-income people tend to spend less of their income than low- and middle-income people.

“This tax bill is part of an unprecedented push to shift resources from low-income to high-income people,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “It’s hard to see how shifting resources from low-income to high-income people will create jobs.”

Beckmann is both a Lutheran pastor and an economist. 

Last week, Bread released “Tax Policy Is a Hunger Issue,” which outlines how tax reform could be used to help low-income families and reduce hunger. 

The post House Tax Bill Harms Low-Income Families appeared first on Bread for the World.

People shouldn’t have to choose between paying for food or medicine. Ensuring individuals can access affordable health insurance is a critical component in reaching the goal of ending hunger by 2030. When more people are insured, struggling households are better able to afford nutritious food and lead healthier lives.

In 2015, for the first time in eight years, the United States saw a significant decline in the overall rate of food insecurity and poverty. This decline was due, in part, to increased access to health care through the expansion of Medicaid and overall health insurance enrollment through the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Millions of Americans have gained coverage through the ACA. However, health care costs continue to rise and too many moderate to low-income families are still unable to afford quality health insurance. To end hunger by 2030, the United States must have a health care system that works for all.

“Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another…”

John 13:34

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This wide scope makes the Farm Bill vital not only to farmers, but to other residents of rural areas, people anywhere in the United States who do not have enough money for food, and countries where many people struggle with hunger and malnutrition. 

The Farm Bill can help put the United States on track to end food insecurity and hunger in our country and save millions of lives overseas. To do so, it must be designed with strong and resilient food systems and good nutrition as its top priorities.

The post How the U.S. Farm Bill Can Help End Hunger appeared first on Bread for the World.

Estos recortes presupuestarios afec-tarían particularmente a la comunidad latina, ya que los hogares latinos tienen hasta tres veces más probabilidades de experimentar hambre y pobreza.

The post Fact Sheet: El Impacto del Presupuesto 2018 en la Comunidad Latina appeared first on Bread for the World.

These budget cuts would hit the Latino community particularly hard since Latino households are up to three times more likely to experience hunger and poverty.

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“These proposed cuts would be devastating to families who are already struggling to get by,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “The programs the House proposes to cut have moved tens of millions of people out of hunger and poverty. Clearly, this is not a ‘balanced’ approach to developing a budget.”

The House budget resolution drastically cuts safety-net programs while cutting taxes and increasing defense spending. It calls for at least $203 billion in fast-tracked mandatory spending cuts over the next decade. The proposal assumes these cuts would be enacted this year and would impact programs like SNAP (formerly known as food stamps), Medicaid, and refundable tax credits.

On top of the fast-tracked spending cuts, the budget assumes $114 billion in cuts to Medicaid above those already proposed in the American Health Care Act (AHCA), and $150 billion in cuts to SNAP and $20 billion in cuts to the earned income tax credit and child tax credit.

The House budget also cuts the school meals program by $1.6 billion by making changes to the community eligibility requirements. This program provides breakfast and lunch to millions of children from low-income families.

In addition, the budget makes $1.3 trillion in non-defense discretionary spending cuts over 10 years. This will put pressure on appropriators to cut programs like Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and international development programs.

“This budget unfairly targets programs that help the most vulnerable people,” Beckmann said. “Congress must consider the entire budget when it is looking for places to make cuts or generate revenue. I urge all House members to reject the resolution and pass a fair budget that lives up to the values of their faith.”

The post House Budget Resolution Cuts Programs for Poor and Hungry People appeared first on Bread for the World.

This guide answers the questions:

• How is the federal government’s budget put together?
• Why is it an important tool and place for advocacy to end hunger?

In simple terms, this fact sheet and our corresponding infographic explain the often complex process of developing a budget for the federal government.

The post Budget 101 appeared first on Bread for the World.

Un presupuesto es más que un documento financiero — es a la vez un documento moral. Es una declaración de las prioridades y los valores de nuestra nación. Nuestro presupuesto federal se debe medir por cómo trata a los más vulnerables entre nosotros.

Al establecer un presupuesto, los legisladores en el Congreso pueden cambiar las políticas, los programas y las condiciones que permiten que persistan el hambre y la pobreza. Con solo un plumazo al aprobar un presupuesto federal, se crean políticas que pueden reorientar millones de dólares y afectar a millones de vidas.

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