Member News: Bread for the World releases Hunger Report 2012

This week, InterAction member Bread for the World released its annual hunger report. The 2012 edition, Rebalancing Act: Updating U.S. Food and Farm Policies, emphasizes the need to produce more nutritional foods at low cost so that all people, including the world’s poor, can have a healthy diet.

In addition to the main focus on the effects of U.S. food policies at home, the report also discusses those policies that affect emergency food aid and agricultural development assistance abroad. The summary urges:

“The United States should strengthen its traditional role as the largest provider of food aid, while also moving quickly to improve its nutritional quality. New mothers, young children, and other vulnerable people, such as those living with HIV/AIDS, can benefit from highly nutritious forms of food aid now available. These cost more than the foods normally included in U.S. food aid, but it is possible to reduce costs by purchasing in or near the countries where they are needed and by phasing out the inefficient practice of monetizing food aid to conduct development projects.”

The report also calls on the U.S. to strengthen its Feed the Future commitment for agricultural development in poor countries.

To read the full report, or to order a copy, visit www.bread.org/hungerreport.