Bread for the world

By Barb Arland-Fye
Editorial

Can you imagine eating dirt and boiled leaves or consuming animal feed and ground-up date pits because you cannot afford or find food to eat? In places such as Gaza in the Palestinian Territory and Darfur, Sudan in Africa, ordinary people struggling to survive in the midst of deadly conflicts have had to resort to these dire measures this year.

Conflict is just one driver of food insecurity. In Haiti, for example, conflict/insecurity, economic shocks and weather extremes have left nearly 50% of the population (4.9 million people) facing high levels of acute food insecurity, according to the 2024 Global Report on Food Crises. Whatever the reason, nearly 300 million people worldwide are lacking what the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) calls a right to life issue — the right to food:

“In light of our commitment to the right to life of every person, we believe all people also have basic rights to material and spiritual support, including the right to food, which are required to sustain life and to live a truly human existence. This clear commitment to the dignity and value of every human life must be reflected both in individual choices and actions and in the policies and structures of society” (https://tinyurl.com/3u3zexfz).

“In a world of plenty, children are starving to death. War, climate chaos and a cost-of-living crisis — combined with inadequate action — mean that almost 300 million people faced acute food crisis in 2023,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in the Global Report on Food Crises (https://tinyurl.com/ukyj46hs). “The number of people on the brink of famine rose to over 700,000 — almost double the number of 2022.”

Notice that Guterres cites “inadequate action” as a contributing factor. That means all of us, collectively, in wealthy countries such as the U.S., need to step up to the plate. On the surface, that responsibility appears daunting if not impossible. However, consider what the USCCB says our faith tradition calls and equips us to do, referencing the Gospel reading from John 6:1-15, the feeding of the 5,000:

“We might be overwhelmed with the magnitude of need throughout our world, in our own country, and even our own locality. The young boy with a few loaves and fish is the only one in the Gospel placing trust in Jesus. Jesus’ compassion for the crowd and the young boy’s generosity answer the question, “How are we going to feed all these people?” God doesn’t expect any one of us to do it all. But each of us is asked to do our part” (https://tinyurl.com/4ecyhje2).

So, how can each of us do our part? For starters:

Contact our U.S. House Representatives and ask them to protect international hunger-reducing programs, particularly, Food for Peace, a part of the Farm Bill that “provides lifesaving food aid during emergencies.” Long-term development programs such as Food for Peace “address the root causes of hunger and help communities lift themselves out of poverty,” Catholic Relief Services (CRS) says in its Aug. 12 e-newsletter.

However, the House Agriculture Committee’s Farm Bill proposal (passed out of committee in May), “contains some elements of the American Farmers Feed the World Act that could make Food for Peace long-term development programs inoperable,” CRS said. That means Food for Peace “could reach 2.3 million fewer people with support to build self-sufficiency.”

Urge our House Representatives to oppose inclusion of the American Farmers Feed the World Act in the Farm Bill and to protect international hunger-reducing programs. In a previous Catholic Messenger editorial (July 6, 2023), we reported that House members who introduced the American Farmers Feed the World Act wanted to see the purchase and donation of American commodities as the program originally intended. CRS argues the original intention is outdated, inefficient and “creates dependencies and distorts local markets — putting farmers and producers out of business.” Send your message to your legislators through CRS (https://tinyurl.com/5r6n9wze).

Register to attend a Sept. 5 noon webinar titled “Hope’s Impact: Rural Parishes and Beyond Responding to Global Hunger,” a Lunch and Learn program of the Diocese of Davenport’s Social Action Office (https://tinyurl.com/psynvn2y). This is an opportunity to learn how agricultural development programs are responding to the challenges facing creation while helping families to thrive. Learn how your parish can get involved.

Reflect on the following questions the USCCB poses (https://tinyurl.com/3u3zexfz):

How can hunger in the human family be overcome?
How can we ensure a safe, affordable, and sustainable food supply?
How can we ensure that farmworkers and owners of small farms, in the United States and around the world, live and work with dignity?
How can land, water, and other elements of God’s creation be preserved, protected, and used well in the service of the common good?
How can rural communities in our country and around the world survive and thrive?

Our actions and advocacy, individually and collectively, help us to become bread for the world.