About Bread for the World 40th Anniversary Commemorative Book | Page 13

end hunger.” Other studies by independent groups continue to affirm this finding.
The Bread for the World Institute (originally called the Educational Fund) was established in 1975. The Institute provides policy analysis on hunger and strategies to end
it. Each year since 1990, the Institute has published a highly regarded Hunger Report, an
authoritative analysis of hunger trends and a resource for hunger statistics.
In 1991, Rev. David Beckmann succeeded Simon as president. Also a Lutheran pastor,
Beckmann had worked for 15 years at the World Bank. Under his leadership, Bread has
become increasingly more prominent, with a significantly bigger membership, budget,
and staff.

Highlights of Victories for Hungry People
Since our beginning, Bread has consistently campaigned to protect and expand our food
safety net—national nutrition programs. As a result of our work, strong programs help one
in five Americans put food on the table each year.
Many of Bread’s early campaign victories continue to impact hungry and poor people here and abroad. Two campaigns in 1977 and 1978 resulted in the establishment of
grain reserves to stabilize food prices and respond to international food emergencies. In
1979, Bread began a campaign to create a national nutrition monitoring system, which
now enables us to accurately measure the extent of food insecurity
in the United States.
Bread has always been an ardent supporter of the Supplemental Program for Women, Infants
and Children (WIC) since it was
established in 1974. In 1978, Bread
successfully advocated for the expansion of WIC. Today, it benefits
9 million who would otherwise
lack adequate nutrition.
Bread helped craft and pass
legislation to establish an international Child Survival Fund in
1984. Since then, we have pushed

Brian Jaudon

Sen. John Melcher (D-Mont.), Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.), and the Illinois
senator’s brother, Art Simon, founder of Bread for the World, in 1985
with petitions bearing signatures of more than 230,000 people calling for
increased U.S. aid to famine victims in Africa.

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