2010 Hunger Report: A Just and Sustainable Recovery

Bread for the World Institute’s latest annual hunger report, its 20^th edition of this esteemed report, appears today. A Just and Sustainable Recovery analyzes what needs to happen to reduce hunger and poverty as the U.S. and global economy recover from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  

A jobless recovery will not suffice and does not have to be what we get if policymakers grasp the opportunity to rebuild the economy in ways that put people at the forefront of policies to stimulate and sustain growth. 

The report highlights policies that can ensure a sustainable future in spite of the ups and downs that are inevitable in business cycles. It calls for new investments in the nation's energy infrastructure, as to create lots of jobs; rebuilding the manufacturing sector, also to create jobs but more importantly to get America producing things people want to buy, besides risky financial products; reducing inequalities in areas like housing, health care and education policy; helping low-income families to save and build assets for the future, just as the government does for middle and upper income families; and revitalizing neglected communities throughout the country, places so far on the margins they are effectively excluded from participating in the rest of the national economy, except for low-paying work in the service sector. This report has a big agenda, but we're at an opportune moment for making a fresh start and thinking big about the future.

The report also makes the case for U.S. leadership in reducing hunger and poverty around the world and in addressing climate change. Without addressing the triple threats of hunger, poverty, and climate change, the report argues, the coming decades augur far greater instability around the world. 

The release of the report coincides with a launch event at the National Press Club, including speakers David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World and Bread for the World Institute, Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Gawain Kripke, director of research and policy at Oxfam America, and Reverend Lennox Yearwood, president of the Hip Hop Caucus. The report’s website, including everything in the print edition plus many other features, will be adding video from the National Press Club event within a few days.

Here on Institute Notes we’ll be blogging regularly about the report, as issues discussed in the report, from hunger to climate change to health care reform and jobs and inequality, continue to be in the news everyday.  So check in and participate in the discussion with us if you like.