An End to Hunger.

• Position: In the United States

In late October, hunger made the national political agenda for the first time in many a year. While on the stump, Bill Bradley, the former Senator from New Jersey who is now a Democratic Presidential candidate, repeatedly told the story of a little girl who didn't have breakfast because it was her sister's turn that day. He has proposed a program to reduce by half the number of children below the poverty line.

Not to be outdone, Vice President Al Gore volunteered at a soup kitchen and responded with an almost identical proposal. The two Democrats would both increase the minimum wage and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. Bradley also called for an increase in funding for Head Start programs. Gore would make more meals available in public schools.

Even Texas Republican Governor George W. Bush is bringing the subject of poverty into his campaign, though, in typical fashion, he calls for government partnerships with churches and private businesses to provide aid.

While it is refreshing to hear the candidates discussing this vital issue, their proposals would hardly do enough to stop the rumbling of empty stomachs and the dozing of children so weakened from poor nutrition that they have trouble paying attention in class.

At The Progressive, we hear anecdotes about children in the Madison public schools who are so hungry that they dig through lunch room garbage cans looking for something to eat. The national statistics give an indication why children in cities across the country are forced to scrounge.

According to a 1996 report by the Tufts University Center on Hunger, Poverty, and Nutrition Policy, the number of hungry Americans grew from twenty million to thirty million between 1985 and 1990, an increase of 50 percent. And a 1997-1998 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that the number has risen to thirty-six million. Fourteen million of these are children.

The December 1998 "Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in American Cities," a thirty-city survey published by the United Conference of Mayors, showed the prevalence of the problem. During the preceding year, the report said, "requests for emergency food assistance increased by an average of 14 percent, with 78 percent of the cities registering an increase." Most of the people requesting assistance were children and their parents, and a third of the adults who asked for food were employed. But the cities are having trouble feeding their hungry citizens--on average 21 percent of the requests for food assistance went unmet during that year. "In 47 percent of the cities, emergency food assistance facilities may have to turn away people in need due to lack of resources," says the report. Ninety-six percent of the city officials said they expected the ranks of the hungry to continue to rise.

What is the reason for this drastic increase in our nation's hungry? It appears that the economic boom so lauded by pundits has failed to reach some of the...