David Beckmann Available to Comment on New Record-Breaking Poverty Figures

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Washington, DC, September 13, 2010 − Leading anti-hunger and poverty advocate Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World and a 2010 World Food Prize laureate, will be available to comment on the government’s latest poverty data. The U.S. Census Bureau’s annual poverty figures, to be released Thursday, September 16, will show the biggest increase of Americans living in poverty since record-keeping began in 1959.

Currently, nearly one in four children lives in a household that has trouble putting food on the table. Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly called food stamps) has hit record levels. About 40.5 million people a month—more than one-eighth of the total U.S. population—receives SNAP benefits. This figure is projected to rise to 43.3 million in 2011.

Beckmann, an economist and ordained Lutheran minister, has appeared on CNN, Univision, and PBS. His opinion pieces have been published in the Huffington Post, the Miami Herald, and the Reflections Journal of Yale University. His new book, Exodus from Hunger, due out in October, examines how we can end hunger in our time by changing the politics of hunger.

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Bread for the World (www.bread.org) is a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad.

CONTACTS: Racine Hamilton
(202) 464-8196 office, (301) 922-8417 cell, rhamilton@bread.org
Kristen Youngblood
(202) 464-8123 office, (202) 423-7379 cell, kyoungblood@bread.org

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