JCPA: New USDA Report on Food Insecurity is Troubling
Posted by JCPA
04:27 PM Nov 17, 2009
WASHINGTON - A country as rich as the United States should be deeply upset and concerned by the new government report detailing the number of households across the country struggling to buy enough food, says a leading Jewish advocacy organization.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its annual report on poverty and household food insecurity. Food insecurity refers to the lack of access to enough food to fully meet basic needs at all times due to lack of financial resources. According to the USDA, over 17 million U.S. households reported some degree of food insecurity in 2008, up from 13 million households in 2007 - a 31 percent increase. The USDA report also announced that in 2008 almost 15 percent of U.S. households had trouble putting enough food on their tables, the highest percentage since the USDA began tracking this information. Additionally, according to the report, nearly one in four children was at-risk of hunger in 2008.
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), which leads the national poverty campaign, "There Shall Be No Needy Among You," is dismayed by the report's findings and calls on government leaders to immediately enact legislation to help the most vulnerable lift themselves out of poverty and reduce the number of those living in food insecurity. JCPA is specifically calling for the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act and asks that the legislation includes $4 billion a year in new funding for the next 5 years. Building on last year's highly successful mobilization, JCPA is partnering with MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger to coordinate Child Nutrition Seders around the Passover holiday this spring to raise awareness about the challenges of food insecurity faced by millions of children and families around the country and mobilize activists to advocate for the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act.
"The new findings by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are troubling and our government leaders should be deeply upset and concerned at the level of food insecurity apparent across the country," said Rabbi Steve Gutow, president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. "There is no excuse for a country as rich as ours to have so many individuals, families and children fearful for when their next meal may be. We must enact legislation now that will reverse this troubling trend, reduce the number of those living in food insecurity and help the most vulnerable lift themselves out of poverty."
The "There Shall Be No Needy Among You," initiative was launched in 2007 to urge local, state and national leaders to advance legislation and programs that help provide food, shelter, additional work and educational opportunities for the nation's most vulnerable. JCPA's grassroots efforts have led to an increased national commitment to reduce poverty and have inspired communities across the country to mobilize to sponsor anti-poverty programs as part of the Fighting Poverty with Faith campaign and other initiatives.
