Number 21, March 2013
briefing paper
Richard Lord
Ending Hunger in the United States
by Todd Post
Key Points
• The president should propose a time-bound goal and develop a plan
to end hunger in the United States. He should also establish an office
within the administration to coordinate national, state, and local antihunger efforts.
• The most important antipoverty policy is maintaining high rates of
employment. In addition, low-wage jobs have to pay enough so that no
full-time worker is living in poverty with his/her family.
• In the event of job loss, health problems, or other contingencies that
could lead to poverty, all Americans should be able to rely on a safety
net of nutrition and anti-poverty programs that prevent them from going
hungry and provide access to nutritious food.
• Leadership at the federal level must be matched by commitments to end
hunger at the state and local levels—all working from a common vision
of a hunger-free nation.
Bread for the World Institute provides policy
analysis on hunger and strategies to end it.
The Institute educates opinion leaders, policy
makers, and the public about hunger in the
United States and abroad.
www.bread.org
Abstract
With effective leadership and the
right strategies, the United States
could end domestic hunger within
10 years. The nation still has hungry
people simply because national, state,
and local leaders in government have
not made the problem a top priority.
In our system of government, a
problem becomes a national priority
only when a critical mass of citizens
is willing to commit to solving it and
to holding policymakers accountable for making progress. The public
needs to demand stronger leadership
on hunger, beginning with the president setting a time-bound goal—one
with a deadline—to end hunger in the
United States and then working with
Congress to enact a plan that will accomplish this.
Ending hunger will require improved job opportunities, strong nutrition and anti-poverty programs,
and investments in education from
preschool through college. Success
demands ownership of the goal by everyone and close partnerships among
government, the private sector, and
civil society at the national, state, and
local levels.