opinions
Envisioning an End to Hunger
BY ABBY J. LEIBMAN
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A t this time of year, Jews around the world
engage in moments of refl ection and renewal.

We read that each human being is created “b’tselem
Elohim” — “in the image of God” — and we eat
special foods that are meaningful to our families and
our communities.

This year, we have an opportunity to refl ect not
only on our personal and communal struggles but
also a chance to chart a path forward for those
facing hunger in our nation.

On Sept. 28, President Joe Biden will host a
White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and
Health. As the head of MAZON: A Jewish Response
to Hunger, a leading anti-hunger organization built
on Jewish values working to end hunger in the
United States and Israel, I believe the upcoming
conference can provide a historic opportunity to
envision and advance bold, transformative ideas.

At the same time, I harbor no illusions that a
one-day summit of political leaders, policymakers,
academics and advocates will immediately realize
the vision of MAZON’s founders in 1985. MAZON
was founded on the vision of working toward sys-
temic change so that every American can put food
on the table.

To truly end hunger, we need the political will
to examine the roots of societal problems — rac-
ism, sexism, anti-immigrant sentiment and other
forms of discrimination that contribute to persistent
inequities, including food insecurity. With an under-
standing of those systemic biases, we can then
attempt to build strategic, long-term solutions to
end hunger with creativity, open dialog and vision.

It is only through an honest understanding of our
history — including the history of hunger and our
response to it — that we can realize meaningful
policy changes that can truly address the problem.

The only previous White House Conference on
hunger took place in 1969, and it led to the expan-
sion of federal food programs that to this day pro-
vide a critical safety net when troubled times strike
the most vulnerable. The 1969 conference led to
the broad national expansion of the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly
food stamps), the Special Supplemental Nutrition
Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
and the National School Lunch Program. It was
the dawn of an age of unprecedented progress
against hunger and malnutrition.

Then the 1980s reversed that progress.

Draconian policies of federal aid cutbacks, fueled
by racist and sexist tropes, low-wage jobs and
corporate takeovers of our food and farming
industries, propelled the dramatic rise in the num-
ber of Americans unable to regularly access nutri-
tious food. While most of us manage to weather
boom and bust economies, fi nancial crises like
the 2008 housing market collapse, and the more
recent global pandemic and spiking infl ation,
have only pushed more people to the brink amid
widening income inequality.

During the pandemic, we all saw news reports
of long lines at over-burdened food pantries.

While a robust charitable sector provides vital
resources in emergencies, federal nutrition bene-
fi ts provide a lifeline for those who struggle to put
food on the table. When the Biden administration
boosted benefi t levels for programs like SNAP,
WIC, Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT) and the Child Tax
Credit during the pandemic, we saw something
remarkable: a front-line defense that kept even
more people from the long lines at charities.

The just-released annual Department of
Agriculture report, “Household Food Security in
the United States in 2021,” reveals that about
10.2% of Americans experienced food insecurity
last year, a rate nearly unchanged from the year
before, despite the worsening economy. While that
is relatively good news, the persistence of hunger
and the brutal fact that 13.5 million households are
experiencing hunger remains a national disgrace.

The White House Conference can be a fi rst step
toward ensuring that no household goes hungry.

At MAZON, our vision is that the conference is but
the beginning of the real, diffi cult work of looking at
where we’ve been, how we got here and why we
are still faced with millions of American families who
do not know where their next meal will come from.

We cannot turn away from the hard questions:
Why do single mothers face food insecurity at
twice the national average? Why are Black fam-
ilies nearly twice as likely to experience hunger
as white families? Why is there a food pantry at or
near every single military base in America? Despite
alarming rates of hunger among Native Americans,
why doesn’t the USDA report collect data about
hunger among Indigenous households?
Guided by the Jewish values of tzedek (pursu-
ing justice) and respecting the inherent dignity of
every person — for we are all “b’tselem Elohim” —
we are committed to confronting the root causes
of hunger, and this must include understanding
what brought us to this moment, and why the
stark disparities among the most vulnerable not
only exist but persist.

If the upcoming White House Conference leads
us down that path, we will fi nally be taking steps
to ensure that hunger becomes a thing of the past
in America. JE
Abby J. Leibman is president and CEO of MAZON:
A Jewish Response to Hunger.

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