Still from President Obama’s video statement
cal food systems, identify resources and gaps, and create and
later implement plans to fill the gaps. The FPAs rely on THI
to help develop more effective strategies against hunger. For
instance, the initiative gathers the data about how many eligible people in a community are not participating in a particular federal nutrition program, while FPAs help ensure that
people in the community are aware of these federal resources.
Everett created THI using a disaster-relief model developed in Texas after Hurricane Katrina. Most people who
watched as Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast remember
the government response as chaotic at best. Federal, state,
and local governments learned from that experience. They
built coordinated public and private support teams that used
all available resources, from the federal level down to local
communities. Every county in Texas now has a person or organization that is accountable for leading the response when
a disaster occurs.
“We’re kind of in a p erpetual state of disaster with hunger,” says Everett, in all sincerity. “What I’ve found doing
community development work all my adult life is that trying
to address poverty or any aspect of poverty like hunger on
the local level alone is like trying to address internal bleeding
with a topical cream. You have to use federal, state, and local resources at the same time.” Since 2009, THI has worked
to build trust with federal and state agencies. “We are trying
to create a model that can be replicated in other states and
strengthen their infrastructure on related poverty and social
issues,” says Everett. Since THI is part of the Hunger Free
Communities Network, Everett can share what organizers
have learned from trying to end hunger in Texas and benefit
from what other hunger-free advocates are learning as they
try to end hunger in their own states and communities.
Achieving the Goal
As we have outlined above, the president should set a goal
to end hunger and work with Congress to enact a comprehensive plan. In addition, the United States needs an office
responsible for coordinating action at the federal, state, and
local levels. It’s likely that few Americans today are aware that
during the 1960s, the U.S. government established an office
focused on coordinating efforts to end poverty and hunger.
The Office of Economic Opportunity functioned as the administration’s command center during the War on Poverty
and was responsible for coordinating a number of programs,
such as Head Start, Jobs Corps, workforce development and
training, and VISTA. By the 1970s, however, the office had
lost its influence on policy; later, it also lost the mandate to
lead the fight against poverty.
The United States needs a similar coordinating body now
to support efforts at the national, state, and local levels and
help the country remain focused on making progress. It
should be staffed by experts
across multiple disciplines and
managed by a proven leader in
the fight against hunger. This
leader should be named at the
same time that the president
announces a national goal to
end hunger.
It has been a long time
since social development
goals were a driver of U.S.
public policy and policymakers could expect to be held
accountable for lowering the
country’s rates of hunger and
poverty. These problems tend
to be low-profile, despite their
size and far-reaching effects.
Setting goals and striving to
achieve them has roused the
country out of complacency
in the past. It could once again
be a way to build consensus
Prior to his re-election, President Obama committed to protecting programs vital to hungry people, and he emphasized “build[ing] an economy that works for all of us, and leaves something better for our children.” We are petiaround a shared vision of the
tioning the president to take concrete steps toward that vision by setting a goal and working on a plan with Congress
future—and the need for acto end hunger. You can help end hunger by signing the Offering of Letters petition. To see President Obama’s video
tion to realize this vision.
statement, go to the 2013 Offering of Letters website: www.bread.org/go/OL.
www.bread.org
Bread for the World Institute 7