Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, Feb. 27, the Alliance to End Hunger and healthcare industry leader ProMedica will host a summit in Washington, D.C., to address hunger as a health issue. Titled “Come to the Table,” the event will draw 200 registrants, including more than 30 members of Congress, to Capitol Hill to strategize actionable, effective ways to end hunger.
“In one of the world’s wealthiest nations, hunger is not only preventable and morally unacceptable; it is expensive, resulting in hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare costs each year,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “We applaud ProMedica and the Alliance to End Hunger for bringing this issue to the forefront and holding lawmakers and private industry responsible for finding solutions.”
Nearly one in six U.S. households faces hunger, and studies have shown long-term health consequences from hunger. Healthcare reform has motivated healthcare providers to place more of an emphasis on prevention and wellness, and preventing hunger is tantamount. As featured in Bread for the World Institute’s 2014 Hunger Report: Ending Hunger in America, ProMedica has set out to recast hunger as a healthcare priority, on par with fighting illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
The purpose of Thursday’s event is to persuade more lawmakers and healthcare industry leaders to champion anti-hunger initiatives by making connections among reducing hunger, improving health outcomes, and lowering healthcare costs. In an effort to form creative, effective collaborations and encourage federal legislation to protect anti-hunger programs, Beckmann will join other experts in speaking on hunger and health, including Kevin Concannon, Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Deborah Frank, M.D., Professor of Child Health and Well-Being, Boston University School of Medicine, and Founder of Children’s Health Watch; Ken Thorpe, Chairman, Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease; and Ravi Sachdev, Managing Director, Healthcare Coverage, J.P. Morgan.
“U.S. hunger is a far-reaching problem that we believe must be confronted from multiple angles, with healthcare organizations, social service agencies, and government leaders all working together,” said Randy Oostra, D.M., FACHE, President and Chief Executive Officer of ProMedica. “This summit, part of our Come to the Table advocacy initiative, is the next of many steps in achieving this collaborative effort nationally.”
Afghanistan would be considered likely to have high rates of hunger because at least two of the major causes of global hunger affect it—armed conflict and fragile governmental institutions.
Malnutrition is responsible for nearly half of all preventable deaths among children under 5. Every year, the world loses hundreds of thousands of young children and babies to hunger-related causes.
Bread for the World is calling on the Biden-Harris administration and Congress to build a better 1,000-Days infrastructure in the United States.
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in faith.” These words from Colossians 2:6 remind us of the faith that is active in love for our neighbors.
The Bible on...
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to respond to changes in need, making it well suited to respond to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bread for the World and its partners are asking Congress to provide $200 million for global nutrition.
In 2017, 11.8 percent of households in the U.S.—40 million people—were food-insecure, meaning that they were unsure at some point during the year about how they would provide for their next meal.