Fear and Hope for Latinos at Bread for the World’s 50th Anniversary

WASHINGTON (RNS) — A mile from where Republicans on Capitol Hill work toward passing a budget bill containing the biggest cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in history, one of the most prominent Christian anti-hunger groups has gathered to celebrate its 50th anniversary — and to figure out how to try to move the hearts of lawmakers.

“ We have to remind people in power that what happens to a poor child happens to you, because we are one body,” said the Rev. Alexia Salvatierra, academic dean for Fuller Seminary’s Centro Latino, to a gathering of Latino leaders that kicked off the event. “We need to pastor our representatives.”

Bread for the World launched its first letter-writing campaign in 1975, sending more than 100,000 letters to members of Congress on the right to have food. In the decades since 1970, when the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said that about 35% of people in developing countries were undernourished, that hunger rate dropped to around 13% in 2015.

The organization has historically been able to count on support from both Democrats and Republicans for anti-hunger programs. Now, its members are worried about sweeping changes to U.S. funding for domestic and international nutrition programs.

The version of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” budget passed by House Republicans would cut $290 billion from SNAP over the next decade, in part by reducing federal contributions to states’ SNAP programs and by increasing work requirements to access the program.

Bread for the World is sounding the alarm about the Trump administration’s attempt to pull back funding for international global nutrition programs already allocated by Congress and to codify cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development and State Department made by the Department of Government Efficiency.

But despite the proposals that are putting Bread for the World on defense, Marco Grimaldo, strategist for national church partners and Latino communities, told RNS that the organization has “ felt it really important to look at policies that we could win and that would make a difference in other people’s lives.”

One of those areas is the MODERN WIC Act, which focuses on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. Bread for the World is advocating for both an increase in funding for the program as well as the act’s provision allowing participants to become certified virtually.

Grimaldo led a session for about 50 advocates gathered for a Latino convening, a subset of about 500 expected to attend the full summit, which runs through Wednesday (June 11).

Salvatierra told the group that the Latino church had unique gifts to bring to advocacy against hunger.

“ We know the real stories of real families that are suffering.  We don’t just know their suffering; we know their contribution. We know their hard work,” Salvatierra said. “We can fight the lie that poor people are just needy and nothing else.”