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Changing Lives |
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Compassion Spotlight
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The Need
Access to healthy food and adequate nutrition is one of the most essential human needs. While most Americans can afford to meet this need, about 12.6 million households (11%) were food insecure at some time during 2006.
A food insecure household does not have continuous access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all members.
In 2006 more than 800 million people in 70 of the world’s lower-income nations were classified as food insecure.
The difference between recommended nutritional requirements and purchasing power of the populations in the world’s poorest countries was more than 27 million tons in 2006.
The Response
Faith-based and other nonprofits, both large and small, play a critical role in our Nation’s first line of defense against hunger as well as serving individuals abroad.
Domestic Food and Nutrition Assistance
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) seeks to ensure that no one in America go hungry. Since 2001, funding for domestic nutrition assistance has increased more than 75%, to $60 billion, demonstrating the Administration’s unwavering commitment to this mission. USDA Food and Nutrition Service works to increase food security and reduce hunger by providing children and low-income people access to food, a healthful diet, and nutrition education. USDA’s 15 nutrition assistance programs reach 1 in 5 Americans over the course of a year.
The Food Stamp Program is the cornerstone of the Federal food assistance programs and provides crucial support to needy households and to those making the transition from welfare to work. The Food Stamp Program helps low-income people and families buy the food they need for good health, with over 28 million people receiving benefits every month. Partnerships with faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs) are an important part of ensuring that all eligible people know about nutrition assistance programs.
Between FY 2004 and 2007, the Food Stamp Outreach Grant Program awarded over $3.7 million to 43 faith-based and secular nonprofit organizations to assist with outreach activities and improve access to the Food Stamp Program.
Due in part to the outreach efforts of USDA and its FBCO partners to underserved and disadvantaged groups, participation among those eligible to receive food stamp benefits has increased from 54% in FY 2000 to 65% in FY 2005.
Through Special Nutrition Programs, faith-based and community organizations participate in and promote the expansion of a variety of Federal nutrition programs through day care centers, food banks, soup kitchens, schools, afterschool programs, shelters, summer feeding sites, and health clinics.
The Summer Food Service Program provides free, nutritious meals and snacks to help children in low-income areas get the nutrition they need during the summer months when they are out of school. Continued engagement of FBCOs is an important part of closing the gap between those children who receive nutrition assistance during the school year and those who receive it during the summer.
During the summer months of 2006 an average of 1.9 million low-income children received healthy meals each day through the Summer Food Service Program.
Approximately 34% of the partner organizations serving those meals were faith-based or secular nonprofits.
The Child and Adult Care Food Program plays a vital role in improving the quality of care for children and elderly adults by making such care more affordable for many low-income families.
Through this program, 3 million children and 101,000 adults receive nutritious meals and snacks each day.
In FY 2006, approximately 48% of partner organizations participating in this program were faith-based or secular nonprofits.
International Food Aid
The United States is also the world’s largest provider of food aid and emergency food assistance and is committed to the goal of global food security. The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service and the U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) work together to deliver this aid worldwide, often in partnership with faith-based and community organizations.
In FY 2007, the generosity of the American people provided more than $2.1 billion of food aid, or 2.5 million metric tons of commodities, to 78 developing nations.
This aid helped feed over 35 million hungry individuals.
Approximately 70% of U.S. food assistance meets the needs of emergency situations around the world, touching the lives of 23 million people in 30 countries in 2007.
The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program promotes education, health, and food security for poor children in low-income countries that have low literacy and primary school completion rates. The program aims to reduce extreme poverty and hunger and to advance literacy and universal primary education. Food for Education focuses especially on girls since they tend to have much lower school attendance rates than boys in many countries.
From FY 2004 to FY 2007, the Food for Education program delivered vital assistance through 59 grant agreements with private voluntary organizations, including faith-based groups, totaling more than $338 million. These organizations delivered almost 399,555 metric tons of commodities, benefiting 10 million people in 33 countries.
The Food for Progress Program is designed to support countries that have made commitments to introduce or expand free enterprise elements into their agricultural economies. Under this program, U.S. agricultural commodities are provided to developing countries and emerging democracies committed to expanding free enterprise in the agricultural sector.
From FY 2004 to FY 2007, the Food for Progress program delivered vital assistance through 79 grant agreements with private voluntary organizations, including faith-based groups, totaling more than $770 million. These projects benefited 15.6 million people in 48 countries.
The Food for Peace Program, administered by USAID, makes commodity donations to Cooperating Sponsors, which include faith-based groups and other nonprofits, to address the needs of food security in both five-year development projects and emergency food assistance programs. This aid is essential in emergency situations, including the ongoing crisis in Sudan.
In FY 2007, more than 354,630 metric tons of commodities, valued at $356 million, were provided to an estimated 6.4 million beneficiaries in Sudan alone.
In Zimbabwe, 88,900 metric tons of commodities helped almost 700,000 people cope with the dual burdens of a deteriorating economic situation and poor agricultural performance.
Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program continued to implement activities that targeted both chronic and acute malnutrition, to the benefit of more than seven million individuals.
