Bread for the World's Blog
 

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Beckmann to Speak on ‘Ending Hunger: The People and Congress’ at the Press Club

Leading anti-hunger and poverty advocate Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World and 2010 World Food Prize laureate, will speak on “Ending Hunger: The People and Congress” at a National Press Club luncheon on September 13 at 12:30 p.m.

Monday, September 6, 2010

September 2010 Newsletter

Lawmakers face mounting pressure to reduce our country’s deficits, but any enacted policies must not push more Americans into poverty.

Friday, September 3, 2010

A Roadmap to Africa's Agricultural Development

Accra, Ghana—In Africa, the way to an agriculture revolution has long been clear. The original Green Revolution in Asia, in the 1960s and ‘70s, provides the classic roadmap.

But where there’s a way doesn’t mean there is a will. In fact, the will to develop agriculture in Africa has long been missing.

“Africa must take the bull by the horns and tackle the structural reasons for underproduction,” urged Mizengo Kayanza Peter Pinda, the prime minister of Tanzania, at the opening of the African Green Revolution Forum here Thursday. His earthy command set a tone of impatience for Africa to finally muster the political will to realize its agriculture potential.

“In Asia, the work of scientists was important, yes, but also the work of politicians to lay the policy framework,” said Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general who is now chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, the host of the forum. Africa, noted Annan, a native Ghanian, needs “fundamental changes in government priorities.”

Several countries are leading the way in finally elevating agriculture. They are reducing reliance on international goodwill, and exercising their own political will to feed their people. To accomplish this, they are finally allying with the private sector. Tanzania launched a Farming First initiative last year, pouring more resources into agriculture; this year, food production is doubling. Governments are also hailing agriculture in Malawi, Rwanda, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Mali, and their harvests of maize, wheat, rice, and beans are growing strongly.

The forum, which Annan labeled “a call to action,” was teeming with a keen awareness that this is Africa’s time to step up. The world will need to double its agriculture production by 2050 and Africa—because it has fallen so far behind the rest of the world in the use of hybrid seeds, fertilizer and irrigation—is poised to deliver the greatest leap in harvests. Africa can leverage this global need to produce more food to radically alter its image from continent of problem to continent of solution.

“We have the land, the farmers, the know-how. The time is ripe to invest in African agriculture,” Annan said. “Africa’s farmers are poised to deliver long-term solutions.”

Tanzania’s prime minister echoed, “Africa is a sleeping giant. It’s time to awaken this giant.”

The will to politically support the way to a Green Revolution in Africa evaporated in the 1980s and 1990s—the era of “structural adjustment” when the World Bank and leading development institutions urged African governments to get out of agriculture for the sake of fiscal austerity. Across the continent, support for farmers drastically declined. Agriculture infrastructure collapsed and yields fell far below potential while money flowed into urban development projects. One of Africa’s greatest paradoxes emerged: hunger spread across a continent where two-thirds of its residents are engaged in farming.

“The giant slept,” said Prime Minister Pinda. “When Africa woke up it had learned a lesson: you must develop agriculture on your own terms.” He added: “Agriculture policies drove the Green Revolution in Asia. Until African countries shape their own policies, they won’t have a Green Revolution.”

Those policies include increasing government spending to support farmers and creating a climate for local and international investment in agriculture. And to commit to doing so for the long term.

“If people are going to invest and be encouraged to return to agriculture, they need to be assured that the policies will be continued, to make their investments sustainable. In Africa, new governments want to start afresh, sometimes not just start afresh but to undo what the previous government has done,” he said to great applause.

He continued to chide and exhort his fellow Africans: “If we believe that agriculture is important, we have to push it higher up the political agenda and keep up the pressure that politicians can’t continue to refuse to deal with it. People have power. If leaders don’t lead, they can be led. If they don’t listen today, they will listen in the year of elections.”

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.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Exodus From Hunger

What if you could end world hunger? How would you go about helping the 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty? You'll find answers to these questions and more in the new book Exodus From Hunger, by David Beckmann, Bread for the World's president.

This month, Beckmann talks to Breadcast about why he wrote the book and offers individual steps people can take to end hunger. "Advocacy--smart, thoughtful, prayerful advocacy by people who live in this country--can change Congress and move the world. The main thing I want people to do is help us change the politics of poverty," he says.

Plus, listen to the song "Give a Little," by Anna Gilbert.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Bread for the World Mourns Passing of Bob Forney

Bread for the World mourns the death of Bob Forney, an outstanding person who did much to save people from hunger and starvation around the globe. Forney, 69, died Sunday night at his Indiana home.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Urge Congress to do more to fight hunger and poverty in the African-American community

We live in the world's wealthiest nation, but nearly 15 percent of U.S. households can’t afford enough food to feed themselves. Alarmingly, hunger and poverty rates are higher among African-Americans than the general U.S. population: One in four African-American households struggles to put food on the table. As Congress returns from its August recess, we should urge members to focus on the needs of hungry and poor people—and not balance the budget on their backs.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Good Books on Hunger and Poverty

We asked some of our members and followers if they’ve read any good books on hunger and poverty lately. Check out their suggestions—summer’s not over yet!

Three Cups of Tea, and Stones into Schools, both by Greg Mortenson

Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, by Raj Patel

The Hole in Our Gospel, by Richard Stearns

A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman, by Lisa Shannon

Down and Out in Paris and London, by George Orwell

Hope Lives: A Journey of Restoration, by Amber Van Schooneveld

How Much is Enough, by Arthur Simon

More With Less Cookbook and Living More With Less, both by Doris Janzen Longacre

The Long Loneliness, From Union Square to Rome, Loaves and Fishes, and Writings from Commonweal, all by Dorothy Day

Jesus Freak, and Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion, both by Sara Miles

Wage Theft in America, by Kim Bobo

How to Steal a Dog, by Barbara O'Connor

The Irresistible Revolution, by Shane Claiborne

Let Justice Roll Down, by John M. Perkins

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, by Ron Sider

The Poor Will Be Glad: Joining the Revolution to Lift the World Out of Poverty, by Peter Greer, Phil Smith, Jeremy Cowart, and Rob Bell

Walking with the Poor, by Bryant L. Myers

Tending to Eden: Environmental Stewardship for God's People, by Scott C. Sabin and Brian McLaren

The Working Poor: Invisible in America, by David Shipler

The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done about It, by Paul Collier

Under the Overpass: A Journey of Faith on the Streets of America, by Michael Yankoski

Monday, August 23, 2010

What’s Next for Haiti?

It's been seven months since the earthquake in Haiti, and recovery efforts are well under way. Diana Aubourg Millner, a Haitian-American and senior foreign assistance policy analyst for Bread for the World Institute, looks at where things stand now in “Rebuilding Haiti: Making Aid Work Better for the Haitian People.”

With unprecedented levels of goodwill, focus, and commitment to Haiti from people and governments around the world, there are still enormous hurdles to rebuilding Haiti. Even before the earthquake, 80 percent of the country’s population lived on less than $2 a day, an estimated 2.4 million people were without ready access to food, and the malnutrition rate was the highest in the region.

In many ways, Haiti is still in the urgent relief phase, but the country must work toward rebuilding and reconstruction—to a recovery that is led by Haitians. Millner outlines some of the key challenges Haiti faces in moving from relief to development.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Turn Swords into Ploughshares

According to the Bread for the World Institute, 14.6% of U.S. households struggle to put enough food on the table. More than 49 million Americans—including 16.7 million children—live in these households.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Brazil Helps African Farmers Grow Food for Africa

Accra, Ghana — It is no coincidence that a neighbor of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa here is Embrapa, the Brazilian agricultural research corporation. For Embrapa was one of the main players engineering the green revolution in Brazil.

Embrapa was created in 1973 with a four-headed mission: guarantee food supply to Brazil’s teeming cities, where most of the country’s poor people live; help develop the rural areas; preserve Brazil’s natural resources; and produce a sufficient surplus of food for export. Its signature achievement so far has been developing the technology to bring vast stretches of savanna land, known as the Cerrado, into production; converting it from bush wasteland to fertile fields. Agricultural researchers adapted sets of plants and animals to thrive in tropical conditions. It also introduced farming practices, management and mechanization to the region. The Cerrado, benefiting above all from innovative soil research, is now a verdant blanket of crops.

Since then, Brazil has become a major force on world agricultural markets, particularly in soybeans, and it has made advances in corralling domestic hunger. Brazil’s grain and cereal production has increased four-fold. The principal scientists and administrators in developing the Cerrado won the 2006 World Food Prize. Norman Borlaug, the father of the original Green Revolution and founder of the prize, hailed the work of Embrapa as “one of the great achievements of agricultural science in the 20th century, which has transformed a wasteland into one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world.”

Can Brazil do the same for Africa in the 21st century?

“The opportunities here are really interesting; the opportunity to grow food for Africa and the world is huge,” says Jose Luiz Bellini Leite, the agribusiness coordinator of Embrapa in its Accra, Ghana, office. “Africa has a lot of land with low production. So you can get big increases.”

Embrapa came to Accra in 2006, and when it opened its office in the compound it now shares with AGRA, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was on hand for the inauguration. It was a symbol of South-South cooperation, he said, with Brazil bringing its technology and research to what is seen as agriculture’s final frontier. Embrapa, Leite tells me, is a component of Brazil’s foreign policy.

“Our vision,” he says, “is to make Brazil’s agriculture technology available to Africa.”

In Africa, Embrapa’s scientists are exploring soil and geological conditions that are similar to Brazil’s. After all, Leite points out, under the Pangaea construct the eastern hump of Brazil fit into the indented bend of West Africa before the earth’s continents split apart.

Embrapa has begun working with farmers in the former Portuguese colonies of Mozambique and Angola. Scientists are bringing technology and experience from the Cerrado to larger tracks of land in those countries that have been underused. If successful there, Embrapa plans to expand to other savanna regions on the continent.

In Mali, Embrapa is testing new varieties of cotton. In Senegal it is working on rice. In Ghana, it is pursuing cassava and soybean projects. Wherever it goes in Africa, Embrapa assists local research centers and tries to link them to farmers, in essence extending the reach of its agriculture extension service across the Atlantic. In opening up the Cerrado, Brazil gained experience in matching the technology and production methods in its existing agriculture areas to the challenges of the new land.

“The two keys are the production value chain and research centers,” Leite says. “In Africa, the distance between research and production is very far.”

Embrapa’s work in Africa is complementing the ambitions of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, which was founded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, and the goals of the Obama administration’s Feed the Future initiative. All these efforts are seeking to boost the production of smallholder farmers and to strengthen the entire agriculture value chain from soil and seed research to the markets for improved harvests.

Because of its potential to boost food production after decades of neglect, Africa is attracting the attention of countries around the world. Much of the interest is coming from non-traditional sources of development aid, particularly countries like China, India, and Saudi Arabia, which are facing their own agriculture limitations as pressure mounts on their land and water. Their interest in Africa, it is thought, is to use the continent’s soil and water to grow food for their own people, not for Africans.

Leite says Brazil’s interest in Africa is not to take food out but to put Brazilian business in. The opening up of the Cerrado was a boon to Brazil’s agribusiness.

“Thirty years ago, we were a very poor country,” Leite says. “The emergency of Brazil comes from the fields; it comes from agribusiness.”

Embrapa believes there’s great commercial potential in helping African farmers grow as much food as possible. That stands in contrast to the old-style thinking of some sections of the U.S. agriculture industry, which see Africa as mainly a repository for U.S. grown food.

“Technology has a shelf life. If we don’t bring it to Africa, others will,” Leite says. “Well, when you bring technology, you bring business. China is working in Africa, bringing seeds and technology to Africa.

“Better,” he laughs, “that Brazil brings them.”

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.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Waco Café Serves Up Food and Fellowship

Kate Ross, Texas — The small blue-and-white Victorian on the corner may not look like much, but if you pass by at lunchtime, you’ll see a crowd stretching around the fence, waiting to get in. Drawn by the promise of quiet community and good food, local residents flock to the Gospel Café and the fellowship of the three women who run it—Sherry Castello, Marsha Martie, and Susan Cowley.

Castello and Cowley are members of CrossTies Ecumenical Church in Waco, TX, where Martie serves as pastor and co-founder. In 1988, Martie felt called to lead the church in beginning a community ministry in nearby Kate Ross.

“We felt a call to be engaged with the neighborhood," Castello explains, “but we knew how little we knew." One statistic that definitely stood out to them, however: Waco’s 28 percent poverty rate. When, during a neighborhood walk, the women happened upon a run-down house for sale, an idea began to form.

The trio envisioned creating a café where people of different economic classes would come together in a pay-if-you-can restaurant environment, allowing lower-income people to have the same meal and experience as others without feeling like they were receiving a handout.

The Gospel Café is now 15 years old, serving lunch three days a week—and more than 24,000 meals a year—whether or not customers can pay. The café’s daily operations are supported by donations from individuals, churches, and small firms, and about $200 a day from paying customers. Regular volunteers from CrossTies and other churches keep the café running by coming to cook and serve lunch.

The café even inspired a novel by Christian author Lisa Wingate, The Summer Kitchen, which was later named the book for this spring’s “One Book, One Waco” citywide reading program. The Summer Kitchen is not set in Waco but focuses on the themes of poverty, hunger, and community.

The café has turned out to be a wonderful ministry opportunity because it allows those who have been more fortunate to connect with those who haven’t. The family-style seating also encourages people to foster personal connections. As a result, many people who met at the Gospel Café now help each other out by driving others on errands or accompanying new friends to medical appointments for support and help deciphering medical explanations.

 These personal interactions are the best thing the women could have envisioned when they began the cafe. The opportunity for visitors to become involved in other people’s lives has benefited everyone. “The café is a place for loving folks,” Castello says.

“We marvel about the people God has called to minister with us in unexpected capacities: a nurse practitioner who felt drawn to begin the free medical clinic, a psychologist who wanted to begin working at the café one afternoon a week, a woman eager to help us begin Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous groups,” wrote Costello and Martie in Baylor University’s Truett Journal of Church and Missions.

If you ever find yourself in Waco around lunchtime, just look for the Gospel Café on the corner of 10th and Cleveland—and know you’ll be welcome inside.

Katie Whitnah is a communications intern with Bread for the World.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Top Hunger News: Floods Continue to Devastate Pakistan

International

Aid Agencies Accuse the World of Ignoring Pakistan's Desperate Cries. Yesterday, Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said 20 million people had been affected - around seven million of them children - and more than 300,000 homes wiped out. [The Daily Mirror]

Asia: Signs of Hope for Higher Rice Yields. Scientists at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) report signs of progress in their efforts to enhance rice's photosynthetic efficiency to boost yields. If successful, global yields could rise by as much as 50 percent, avoiding potential rice shortages, or even future famines, specialists say. [IRIN]

Video: Plan International in Haiti. From Plan International, this video explains the charities effort in Haiti. Plan remains in the country to help with education and the health of Haitian children. [Poverty News Blog]

UNICEF: Looking for Pockets of Poverty Hidden by Statistics. William Anthony Kirsopp Lake, the new executive director of UNICEF, fears many of the world's children can disappear in a haze of statistics, making progress on paper while neglect, abuse or impoverishment go undetected. [The Huffington Post]

Domestic

Solving the World's Hunger and Obesity Crises Together. As an anti-hunger advocate, I found the perplexity of the obesity problem and the hunger problem existing side-by-side in our increasingly global food system begged further investigation. [CNN Opinion]

Congress Leaves Kids Hungry in Order to Feed Them. If passed, it will be the second time this summer that Congress has funneled money out of the food stamp program to pay for other supports that struggling families rely on everyday. [Color Lines]

Monday, August 16, 2010

Top Hunger News: School Lunch Update

Domestic

Budget Cuts, Economy Affected Summer Meals Programs. Budget cuts for transportation and a scaling-back of summer school led to fewer children getting free lunches this summer in at least one school district, while economic pressures on families in other locations drove up participation in free or reduced-price meals programs elsewhere. [Education Week]

Food Sunday: Where Are We With School Lunch Reform. Recently, the Senate unanimously passed the Child Nutrition Reauthorization, a bill that would do just about everything to improve the school lunch program – except fund it. [The Seminal]

Food Stamps for Broadband Would Bring Slow 'Net to the Poor. The idea is to give low-income Americans a broadband voucher that they could use to order a "minimum broadband package," with "minimum" in this case meaning "enough 'bytes' to surf the Web and send e-mails to family members." [ARS Technica]

International

50 Years After Independence, Congo Mired in Poverty. Some 70 percent of the 3.6 million population live below the poverty line even after seven years of peace and recent double digit economic expansion. [AFP]

Niger: A Crisis, Not (Yet) a Catastrophe. Although Niger is facing a severe food crisis, early large-scale responses have so far helped prevent a rapid deterioration in the nutritional state of children. [IRIN]

Climate Change/Environment

Fire, Water, Air and Earth. In Pakistan there are drowned homes and millions of lives set adrift by floods, in Russia wheat crops have been shriveled by drought and devoured by fire. Some scientists think the floods and the fires could be linked. [IRIN]

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Top Hunger News: Food Stamps Cut to Pay for Teacher Jobs Bill

Domestic

Food Stamps Slashed to Pay for Teacher Jobs Bill‎. To pay for the bill … they are accelerating the scale-back of food stamp payments—at a time when a record number of Americans are relying on food stamps. [CBS News]

U.S. Aid Winning Friends in Flood-Ravaged Pakistan. U.S. Army choppers carrying emergency food and water buzzed over the swollen river and washed-out bridges, landing in the valley once controlled by the Taliban. [Associated Press]

Solving the World's Hunger and Obesity Crises Together. O[]besity and hunger look like two sides of the same core problem ... [CNN]

'Tea party' Groups Plan Arizona Rally against Illegal Immigration. "Tea party" groups are planning a large rally on Sunday in Arizona, near the Mexican border … [The Washington Post]

Climate Change/Environment

Russian Fires Prompt Kremlin to Abruptly Embrace Climate Change. Russia's ongoing heat wave, along with its disastrous fallout, may have finally persuaded the Kremlin to combat climate change. [Christian Science Monitor]

When the Smoke Clears in Russia, Will Climate Policy Change?‎ As temperatures in Russia climb to historic highs, parching crops and igniting large tracts of forest and peatland, analysts are watching to see if these conditions heat up the country's climate change policies. [The New York Times]

Climate Change ‘Will Increase Heart Deaths.’ Many more people will die of heart problems as global warming continues … [BBC News]

Pakistan Floods Shows Threat from Warmer World. Floods that have devastated Pakistan could be a sign of the future as climate change brings greater extremes of weather to the region.  [Reuters]

International

U.N. Food Agencies Say Zimbabwe Makes Strides in Food Security; Some Shortfall. A joint report … says food security has improved in Zimbabwe—but some 1.68 million people in the country will need food aid through March 2011. [Voice of America]

World Bank Urges Nations to Avoid Food Export Bans‎. The World Bank urged countries to refrain from imposing policies that could trigger a new global food price crisis … [Reuters]

Grain Price Rise May Fuel Mideast, Europe Unrest. Rising grain prices from Russia's drought and fires will pressure populations already hit by the financial crisis and could stoke unrest—particularly in the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Europe. [Reuters]

East Africa: Rain, Cross-border Trade Boost Food Security. Food security, a persistent challenge in East Africa, has gradually improved following increased rainfall recorded last year. [AllAfrica.com]

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

New Bill Takes Away Food Benefits for the Poor to Pay for Health Costs for the Poor

Bread for the World is disappointed that the U.S. Congress did not find alternate funding to pay for the $26 billion state aid bill passed Tuesday. The funds will be used by states to pay for critical items such as Medicaid reimbursements and salaries for teachers, firefighters, and police officers. Unfortunately, the bill was paid for by reducing future funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP—formerly called food stamps).

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

'Take It to the Farmer'-- Reaching The World's Smallholders

This year's winners are two people, and they will share the $250,000 World Food Prize. They are Jo Luck, president of Heifer International, and David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

More U.S. Families Running Out of Food, Beckmann Tells Newsweek

Bread president David Beckmann talks with Newsweek’s Claudia Kalb about how hunger affects kids and adults, the rising number of U.S. households without enough food, and the latest on the child nutrition act making its way through Congress.

“We’ve got way too much hunger—more than we have had for a long time. A scandalously and dangerously high rate,” Beckmann says. “This is completely unnecessary. Other countries at our income level do not put up with widespread hunger among kids.”

For more information about child nutrition programs, check out Bread’s website. You can help strengthen these programs by writing or calling your member of Congress—let them know how important these programs are to hungry kids. Our resources page includes information about points to make in your letter or phone call, and includes a sample letter. Thanks!



Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Top Hunger News: Cambodia Needs More Midwives to Reduce Maternal Deaths

International

In Brief: Cambodia Needs More Midwives to Reduce Maternal Deaths. There is one doctor or midwife for every 1,000 people in Cambodia, compared with two per 1,000 in Thailand, and 12 per 1,000 in Japan. [IRIN]

Somalia's al Shabaab Rebels Expel Three Aid Groups. Somalia's al Shabaab insurgents said on Monday they had ordered several aid agencies to close their operations, accusing them of spreading Christian propaganda. [Reuters Africa]

Weather Impact on Europe, CIS wheat crop. Drought and disruptive rainfall across Europe and former Soviet Union republics have forced producers to revise down their 2010 wheat crop forecasts. [Reuters India]

Haitian Children Turn to Begging in DR after Quake. [M]ore Haitian children are begging on the streets of the Dominican Republic—a sign that the economic gulf between the neighboring nations has grown wider since the Jan. 12 earthquake. [The Associated Press]

Haitians Look to Family 1,500 Miles North for Help. As Alourds Grandoit hitches her chair across the yard, following the spots of shade, her thoughts linger mostly on the dead: 10 relatives lost in the Jan. 12 earthquake. [The New York Times]

Pakistan: Floods Show No Sign of Let-Up. Unrelenting downpours continue to limit relief efforts and have grounded helicopters in KP, leaving thousands of people cut off in areas where roads and bridges have been swept away. [IRIN]

Domestic

Liberals Vow to Back State Aid, but Restore Food Stamp Funding. Liberal Democrats said they will vote for a $26.1 billion state aid bill when the House reconvenes this week but are committed to restoring the food-stamps program funding that is being used to pay for it. [The Hill]

City Program for Homeless is Criticized. A signature anti-poverty program of the Bloomberg administration is stumbling because of lax oversight … [The New York Times]

Research Desk Tallies: How Expensive is Welfare? When people refer to "welfare," they usually mean the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF) … [The Washington Post blog]

Silver Diner Club-Card Plan to Help Fund School Nutrition and Fitness Programs. Robert Giaimo and Ype Von Hengst have launched "Eat Well, Do Well," an initiative to fund school nutrition and fitness programs to combat childhood obesity. [The Washington Post]

Nun's Death Rallies Anti-Immigration Forces. In Arizona, the shooting death of a rancher blew the lid off simmering anger over border security and helped solidify support for a tough new immigration law. [Associated Press]

Some Firms Struggle to Hire Despite High Unemployment. With a 9.5% jobless rate and some 15 million Americans looking for work, many employers are inundated with applicants. But a surprising number say they are getting an underwhelming response, and many are having trouble filling open positions. [The Wall Street Journal]

Environment/Climate Change

Ban Announces High-Level Panel to Tackle Global Sustainability Issues. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today unveiled a new panel on global sustainability that is tasked with finding ways to lift people out of poverty while tackling climate change and ensuring that economic development is environmentally friendly. [U.N. News Centre]

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Bread for the World Urges Senate to Continue Funding SNAP Benefits

Bread for the World is calling on the U.S. Senate to find a way to fund the extension of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) program that does not rely on cutting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps).

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Dems Digest Food Stamp Cuts

Friday, August 6, 2010

What Real Foreign Aid Reform Means

Rev. David Beckmann, World Food Prize laureate, is president of Bread for the World and co-chair of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Added summer school sites in Appleton put free food in more kids' mouths

One in nine U.S. children who receive lunch assistance during the school year participate in summer food programs, according to Bread for the World.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

A Look Back

Brian Duss, the man behind the machine here on Breadcast, looks back at his favorite episodes. Highlights include an interview on Zambia, “man on the street” interviews about foreign aid, and the music for this spring's podcasts.

Also, Monica Mills, Bread’s director of government relations, tells us about the importance of the August recess for talking to your member of Congress.

For videos of the music from Zehnder check out One Fluid Flow and Any Day.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Bread for the World Urges Senate to Continue Funding SNAP Benefits

Bread for the World is calling on the U.S. Senate to find a way to fund the extension of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) program that does not rely on cutting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps).

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Andrew Twiton ’08

This Spring Andrew Twiton ’08 was named one of Bread for the World’s 2010 Hunger Justice Leaders.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Zehnder: One Fluid Flow

Monday, August 2, 2010

Zehnder: Any Day

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

God's Abundance

This month’s lectionary texts often touch on themes of abundance and sufficiency—from Psalm 81’s “open wide” to Jesus’ “bigger barn” parable.  God repeatedly reminds the faithful—and not so faithful—that there is enough and that hoarding is not helpful.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

July - August 2010 Newsletter

David Beckmann's award recognizes Bread as "one of the world's foremost grassroots organizations leading the charge to end hunger and poverty."

Monday, July 26, 2010

COMMENTARY: Religion and Foreign Policy

At a recent consultation at Wheaton College, hosted by Bread for the World, the Micah Challenge and the Center Applied Christian Ethics, the topic was “Government, Foreign Assistance and God’s Mission in the World.”

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Bread for the World Head Sees Progress in Fight Against Hunger

David Beckmann is convinced the American public’s appetite for ending world hunger is growing. The minister and former World Bank economist leads Bread for the World, a Christian advocacy group that rallies support for the poor.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Faith-Based Farm Group Pitches In to Fight World Hunger

The recent selection of Bread for the World President David Beckmann and Heifer International’s Jo Luck as winners of the 2010 World Food Prize paid homage to what Kenneth Quinn, president of the foundation that bestows the prize, called “the critical efforts of nongovernmental organizations in mobilizing and empowering grass-roots citizens to combat hunger and poverty.”

Monday, July 19, 2010

Cell Phones, Composting, and Emergency Feeding Centers

The people of Burkina Faso — a landlocked West African country just north of Ghana — are extremely vulnerable to hunger because of poverty and climate change.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Preschool in Tanzania

Monday, July 12, 2010

Preschool in Tanzania

Amina, a preschooler in the Eastern African village of Bagamoyo, Tanzania, comes to school each day clutching her pencil so no one will take it. She is one of 40 children in a classroom where writing utensils are scarce. The pencils are often cut or broken in half to accommodate more students. When she wants to play, Amina hands her pencil to me for safekeeping.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Lobby Day and the World Food Prize

There's a lot going on at Bread for the World, and it's all here in Breadcast. To begin, a first-time hunger lobbyist, Virginia Ann Jordan, talks about her visit to her member of Congress during Bread for the World's annual Lobby Day. "One of the coolest things was that I was able to meet with my congressman and put my faith into action."

Then hear from David Beckmann, Bread's president, about winning the World Food Prize; listen to Rush Limbaugh tell kids to go dumpster diving if they're hungry; and learn about the new Hunger-Free Communities grant program. Plus, listen to music from the DC band the Cascade.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Bread for the World Urges White House Support For the Rewrite of 1961 Foreign Assistance Act

Bread for the World President David Beckmann issued the following statement today: "We look forward to the public release of the full President’s Study Directive on development and foreign aid."

Thursday, July 1, 2010

David Beckmann Testifies Before Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Commission

As part of his testimony before the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform late yesterday afternoon, Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, asked members of Congress to remember hungry and poor people as they work toward making government spending more efficient.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Bread for the World Praises Muskoka Initiative, Urges Rich Countries to Fulfill Pledges

Bread for the World today praised the new commitment made by the world’s richest countries to improve the health of mothers and children, but urged G-8 countries to back the $5 billion initiative with additional funding.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

June 2010 Newsletter

What's happening in Congress with child nutrition programs?

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Bread for the World Urges Leaders Not to Forget Poorest Victims of Gulf Oil Spill

Bread for the World is urging leaders and experts not to forget hungry and poor people who are being impacted by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as British Petroleum begins compensating workers and businesses affected by the company’s leaking oil well.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Who Am I To Do Anything About It?

“Who am I to do anything about big problems like hunger and poverty?” It’s a question people in our pews often ask. They feel unequipped and alone, like Amos who protests that he is “no prophet but a herdsman and dresser of sycamore trees” (Amos 7:14). This month’s lectionary texts remind us that we are not alone. God is our first partner in responding to human suffering. And we are also called to partner with all kinds of neighbors in our local and global communities.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Secretary Clinton's Speech at the World Food Prize Announcement

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Beckmann Named World Food Prize Laureate

Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, has been named a 2010 World Food Prize laureate, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced today.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Beckmann nombrado laureado del Premio Mundial de la Alimentación

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

David Beckmann on the World Food Prize

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

David Beckmann on Exodus from Hunger

Friday, June 4, 2010

VITA Sites are Key

Esther, a Los Angeles mother, learned the hard way that paying a company to prepare her tax returns meant she lost hundreds of dollars in fees. "I had no idea how much money they were taking from me," she said.

But after receiving help with her taxes at a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site, she said she almost cried. "With the extra money I saved, I was able to pay bills, buy clothes for my kids, and I finally finished paying off my car."

Hear more of her story, plus our legislative update and music from Haitian Sanba Kocky.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Crossing Borders with Jesus

Our colleagues at JustFaith Ministries build "border crossing" experiences into their small group study programs, inviting participants to interact with people they may not normally meet.  In the lectionary's gospel texts for June, Jesus is constantly crossing borders -- and taking his disciples with him.