Contact: Shawnda Hines, Bread for the World, 301-960-4913
WASHINGTON, October 16 /Christian Newswire/ -- As part of World Food Day celebrations today, Bread for the World and other groups in the National Anti-Hunger Organizations (NAHO) collation released A Blueprint to End Hunger, a plan that highlights critical steps to help families achieve food security.
"Food prices soared 7.5 percent over the past year and near record numbers of people were enrolling in our social safety nets even before the economic meltdown," said Bread for the World President Rev. David Beckmann. "Right now our nation needs this new map to help navigate our way out of hunger."
The critical needs highlighted in the A Blueprint to End Hunger include:
• an adequate minimum wage that, like the one a generation ago, lifts a small family out of poverty;
• private and public sector provision of jobs and job training;
• strategies to create and increase assets among working families;
• social insurance protection for unemployed and retired persons; and
• child care, refundable tax credits, nutrition assistance, and health insurance that reward work of families trying to make ends meet.
"The blueprint is not just about more money," said Rev. Beckmann. "It's about better public policies and stronger action in all areas of our society to finally eradicate hunger. It's about local groups, including faith communities, making the federal nutrition programs fully effective on the ground. And this year, it's about making candidates understand the need to end hunger."
For years, faith-based organizations have been directly working to end hunger in the United States - for examples, they operate the majority of the country's soup kitchens and feeding programs. "If Christians played a stronger role in advocating for better policies, we could quickly become the driving force toward ending hunger everywhere. The Bible says that the path to abundance is to 'offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted.' The blueprint offers many ways to help us pursue that path," Rev. Beckmann said.
Today, more than 35 million Americans, including more than 12 million children, struggle to put food on the table. The cost of food, fuel, and healthcare is skyrocketing, and high rates of unemployment continue. The number of households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) has increased by nearly 10 percent in the past year.
U.S. food banks are overburdened, with an estimated 20 percent increase in the number of people requesting food assistance over the last year.
A copy of Blueprint to End Hunger can be downloaded at
http://www.bread.org/learn/us-hunger-issues/national-anti-hunger.html
Bread for the World (www.bread.org) is a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad.
