WASHINGTON   –  “If there can truly be a nonpartisan issue today in America – then hunger ought to fit the bill.  At home and abroad, many people don’t have enough to eat.  There are hungry people in every region of the world, and they represent every color, religion and ethnicity.  Accordingly, we also have governmental and non-governmental institutions which are dedicated to fighting hunger in all its forms and all its places.

None of them is partisan. 

In Congress, we have an equally broad coalition of members who understand that hunger is, as Gandhi said, “the worst form of violence.”  It’s a priority that bridges the most conservative wings of the political spectrum with the most liberal. 

There are two ways to alleviate the plight of the hungry: we can work to solve the problem with policy, and we can physically feed people and get them the nutrition they need.  In other words, we can talk about hunger, and we can do something about it.  Both in Southern Missouri and around the world, hunger is a problem that impedes human development, challenges productivity, and deteriorates health.

Here at home, the problem is acute.  Hunger spans the Eighth District, as evidenced by the number of families that live at, below, or just above the poverty line from east to west.  Many of the highest county rates for food stamp utilization in the state are in Southern Missouri.

 
Transportation costs are high, and food costs are tied directly to them.  It is an inconsiderate time to discontinue hand-up programs like Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), but that is exactly the agenda bureaucrats in Washington DC are pushing.  They seem to overlook the fact that TANF and other nutrition programs provide many Americans with the foundation they need to lift themselves out of poverty.  It all begins with the oppression of hunger – which distorts the lives of 35.5 million Americans and rising at last count.

Overcoming this challenge requires a great commitment from non-profit organizations, local and state programs, private individuals and faith-based institutions.  They combine to offer a hand up to the neediest members of our community.  Southern Missouri residents are also the most generous in the nation, donating their time, talents and treasure to the benefit of others.

Hungry people in other countries are not so fortunate.  No single organization devotes the breadth and depth of resources to the fight against hunger as the World Food Programme (WFP).  Using donations from developed countries around the globe, the WFP funds the most ambitious anti-hunger operation in history.

The Washington Times notes that a $500 million shortfall will likely prevent the WFP from even getting close to achieving its goal this year and encouraged Congress to consider our obligations to the WFP in the budget process.  But that is not all we must do, the conservative paper said: “Looking beyond this lumbering budget process, private companies and individuals must also pitch in to address this dire situation.  While our economy is certainly slowing , we are still a land of increasing obesity and commercialism.  We have more than enough resources to meet this need.” 

Some may ask why the hunger in sub-Saharan Africa is of consequence to the Washington Times or in Southern Missouri.  It’s a fair question.  The answer is very important.  When we donate U.S. agriculture to the poor, underprivileged and hungry in foreign nations, we are conducting some of the best diplomacy money can buy.  U.S. food aid is a direct and powerful counterpoint to the message of violent extremists and militant fundamentalists.  Their most powerful recruiting tool is to point at a young, starving boy in the street and tell him that the United States of America is responsible for his pain and suffering.  They cultivate his anger, and who knows what he may become.

In Southern Missouri, we don’t cultivate anger, we cultivate crops.  Our food donations are an American ambassador around the world – but we must commit to share more than food.  We must also share resources like expertise, financial support, and sweat equity.  In the Bible, Matthew relates what Jesus had to say on the subject of hunger: “Give them something to eat yourselves.”  At home and abroad, I urge each one of us to think about and talk about what we can do to alleviate hunger – and then to act!”