Welcome to the Hunger Advocate

Welcome to the inaugural Hunger Advocate newsletter, the Hunger Action Center’s resource for information about hunger issues in and around your community. We hope you’ll read this newsletter regularly and stay engaged in the growing movement to end hunger in America.

America is the wealthiest nation in world, yet there are more than 35 million men, women, and children who face hunger every day. We grow enough food in the United States to feed all Americans, but unfortunately, it is not getting to those that need food the most. That is why advocacy is so important to our cause. Through active participation from our network of advocates, we hope to show our leaders in Washington, D.C., and in communities across the country that improving federal programs that help the hungry should be a legislative priority.

What is Advocacy and Why Does it Help Fight Hunger?

Simply put, advocacy is the informed action of individuals or organized groups to influence decision-making at the federal, state, and local levels. It represents an opportunity for people like you to help effect change by expressing your own opinions and beliefs. The Hunger Action Center is an organized effort to encourage our leaders in Washington and in our state capitols to finally position fighting hunger at the top of their legislative agendas.

Each year, America’s Second Harvest — The Nation’s Food Bank Network serves more than 25 million hungry people: seniors, families, and children in need of emergency food assistance. However, with food and fuel prices on the rise, hunger is a growing problem in America. That’s why we need your help. With your participation in the Hunger Action Center and your willingness to recruit your friends and family to support our efforts, we can make a difference for America’s hungry.

Our Current Legislative Priorities

We seek a commitment from Congress and our state and local elected officials to make ending hunger a national priority. To accomplish this sweeping goal, policymakers must listen to and learn from their constituents. Only then can we hope to change the way our federal, state, and local leaders think about hunger. Specifically, our legislative priorities include:

• Increasing funding for and implementing positive changes to critical nutrition programs that help needy Americans.
• Helping more low-income people access food stamps.
• Modifying the tax code to increase incentives for individuals, small businesses, and corporations to donate money, food, transportation, and other resources to America’s Second Harvest and other non-profits.

Rising Food Prices Force More People to Seek Help from Food Banks

Due to skyrocketing food and fuel prices, Americans across the country are finding it more and more difficult to afford the basic necessities that most of us take for granted. America’s Second Harvest’s network of food banks faces unprecedented challenges to meet the growing demand for food assistance across the country, and so we need your help now more than ever.

Our food banks are reporting a 15–20 percent increase on average in the number of people turning to food banks, soup kitchens, and food pantries for help compared to a year ago. Additionally, 90 percent of those food banks report that the higher demand is a direct result of the rise in food prices. Many families are turning to food banks for the first time for help. In these difficult times, families are forced to choose between getting to work, paying their medical bills, or putting food on the table. Nobody should have to make that choice.

Sadly, the dire economic climate is forcing our member food banks to make difficult choices as well. According to our survey, 83 percent of food banks indicated that they cannot adequately meet the new demands of their communities without making significant adjustments to their operations. Many food banks have been forced to or may soon have to reduce the amount of food available for distribution to agencies.

What Role Does Legislation and Policy Play in Our Fight?

Over the past year and a half, America’s Second Harvest has been actively engaged in advocating on behalf of our network to secure adequate funding for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP), the Commodity Supplemental Food Program and improvements to the Food Stamp Program, all of which were part of the nutrition title in the 2008 Farm Bill. These programs are critical to our food banks and the people they serve. Sufficient funding for these programs will help our food banks meet the growing demand for food assistance due to the rise in food and fuel prices and the overall weakening economy.

With the help of concerned citizens like you, we are happy to report that Congress heard our plea. After months of negotiations, and in spite of a Presidential veto, the House and Senate passed a Farm Bill that would bring more than $10 billion in new funding for federal nutrition programs to communities around the country. In addition, negotiators agreed to index TEFAP for inflation for the first time, a major victory for our network.

On May 16, the House passed the Farm Bill 318 – 106. The following day, the Senate passed the bill 81 – 15. The fight didn’t end then: The President subsequently vetoed the Farm Bill, as promised, returning the bill to the House and Senate for a final vote to override the veto. With the help of our hunger advocates, we told Congress how important it was for the bill to be passed, and on May 22, Congress voted overwhelmingly to override The President's veto.