The National Commission on Hunger, a congressionally appointed bipartisan commission, released its final report today.
The 9-member commission, launched in June 2014, was co-chaired by Robert Doar, Morgridge fellow in Poverty Studies at the American Enterprise Institute and Mariana Chilton, associate professor at Drexel University School of Public Health and director of the Center for Hunger-Free Communities. Together, they held regular meetings, traveling to eight cities around the country to hold public hearings and visit the government, nonprofit, community and faith-based programs working to alleviate hunger.
Today’s report is part of the commission’s charge to develop innovative reforms in both public and private food assistance programs to reduce and eliminate hunger. The result, titled “Freedom from Hunger: An Achievable Goal for the United States of America, Recommendations of the National Commission on Hunger to Congress and the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture,” is one of the strongest bipartisan affirmations around the solvability of hunger in the United States in decades. It contains a deep look at potential root causes of hunger as well as clear, actionable recommendations.
In 2016, 5.6% of households in America, or 6.9 million households, experienced hunger (also known as “very low food security”) within the past year. The recommendations in this report are meant to identify innovative ways to more effectively use USDA programs and funds to combat hunger without increasing spending. To this end, the report offers 20 specific recommendations for system changes to reduce hunger. These recommendations focus on helping those who are not working to find work, supporting those who are working but at low wages or part-time hours, and helping populations that are most at risk, including veterans, people with disabilities, single-parent families with young children, and seniors. In addition, the report makes recommendations concerning improving SNAP’s impact on nutrition.
The new report also acknowledges that the root causes of hunger are many and varied, and many of the consequences of hunger are beyond the reach and effectiveness of nutrition assistance programs alone. Thus, one recommendation proposes the creation of a White House Leadership Council to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to eliminate hunger. The report recommends that this Council should include broad representation from government, corporations, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, community leaders, program beneficiaries, private foundations and other stakeholders.
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