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WCC Public Policy Positions: Eliminate Hunger
Here we elaborate on each of the WCC's 2023 Public Policy Positions. The complete document can be found below. You can learn more about Catholic Social Teaching on the USCCB website.
Eliminate Hunger. Food is a basic human right. For children it is especially vital, as malnutrition impairs cognitive and physical growth. Wisconsin must ensure that all residents have access to healthy and affordable food.
The Catholic Church recognizes that every person is created in the image and likeness of God and has a right to life. The right to life is inextricably connected to the right to food and proper sustenance to live a full and vibrant life. Hunger and poverty threaten human life and dignity.
Through the centuries, the Church has worked to live out Jesus' command to “feed the hungry” and perform other corporal works of mercy. As St. John Paul II noted, addressing hunger and poverty is “an issue of justice and charity” and allowing “millions of people who still suffer from malnutrition is intolerable for humanity” (World Food Day 1999). More than a decade later, Pope Benedict XVI stated that “liberation from the yoke of hunger is the first concrete expression of the right to life which, in spite of being solemnly proclaimed, is often very far from being effectively put into practice” (World Food Day 2011). In 2021, Pope Francis addressed the paradox of food access in our current world where “on one hand, more than 3 billion people do not have access to a nutritious diet, while on the other hand, almost 2 billion are overweight or obese due to a poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle” (World Food Day 2021). In the same address, Pope Francis further urged nations to make “a world without hunger a reality.”
In their 2003 pastoral reflection, For I Was Hungry & You Gave Me Food, the U.S. bishops stated, “The presence of so much hunger and poverty in our communities, nation, and around the world is a grave moral scandal.” Furthermore, when trying to respond to these issues, a “key measure of every agricultural program and legislative initiative is whether it helps the most vulnerable farmers, farmworkers, and their families and whether it contributes to a global food system that provides basic nutrition for all.”
While there must be safety nets for those struggling with poverty and hunger, we must also do our part in the community by volunteering at local soup kitchens, donating to food pantries, or seeking out those in need. Look for organizations like St. Vincent de Paul or check out ways you can serve through your local parish, diocese, and community.
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