Hunger in America to be Discussed Thursday in Congress
WASHINGTON – COVID-19 has exposed a dark underbelly of vulnerability for the U.S. economy: hunger.
Congress plans to take a look on Thursday at what can be done about it, now and in future calamities. The House Agriculture Committee is calling together government and private experts on feeding the hungry.
They plan to review why at least one in nine households is reporting they have less food than they need while the economy tries to recover more than nine million jobs lost in the past year.
“Charitable programs combined with our current ‘entitlement’ programs cannot accomplish the goals of ending hunger and food insecurity,” Alison Cohen, senior director of programs at the advocacy organization WhyHunger, told The Well News. “They do not address the indivisible root causes of hunger, such as racism, falling real wages and rising inequality in income and assets, all stemming from reliance on an extractive economic model.”
In The News
Health
Voting
Food Insecurity
WASHINGTON -- The COVID-19 pandemic is winding down but lawmakers in Congress said Wednesday their work to halt the hunger that resulted from it continues. This week, an estimated 9.6 million jobs remain lost compared with the start of the pandemic early last year, according to... Read More
WASHINGTON - COVID-19 has exposed a dark underbelly of vulnerability for the U.S. economy: hunger. Congress plans to take a look on Thursday at what can be done about it, now and in future calamities. The House Agriculture Committee is calling together government and private experts... Read More
The United Nations Environment Program released the 2021 Food Waste Index Report on Thursday, the most comprehensive data on food waste across 54 countries. The report suggests that food waste is a significant problem, which data could help policymakers address. In 2019, 17% of all food... Read More
PHILADELPHIA — In their last days in office, Trump administration officials are trying to reduce nutrition requirements for school meals, seeking to undo changes initiated by the Obama administration a decade ago. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it wants to allow school districts to be... Read More
WASHINGTON —The pandemic and its accompanying economic downturn have led to unprecedented challenges including unanticipated job loss and difficulty accessing affordable and nutritious foods. In fact, more Americans than ever have needed to make use of food banks and assistance programs. As negotiations on a ‘Phase... Read More
The world is hurtling toward an unprecedented hunger crisis. As many as 132 million more people than previously projected could go hungry in 2020, and this year’s gain may be more than triple any increase this century. The pandemic is upending food supply chains, crippling economies... Read More
