Reverse Hunger is American Jewish World Service’s campaign to reform U.S. food and agricultural policies to better address the crisis of global hunger.

Background

While U.S. food aid saves millions of lives, it's a flawed system. Current law requires that our government ship the majority of our food aid from the U.S., which means that it can take months to reach people who need it. And since we buy almost none of the food from farmers in the countries we're helping, our aid often undercuts local prices and even puts local farms out of business.

We can do better: Recent research by AJWS and Oxfam estimates that U.S. food aid could feed up to 17 million more people on the same budget if we had the flexibility to buy some of the food locally or to distribute vouchers that people can use in local markets. These reforms would not only get life-saving assistance to those in need, but also improve communities’ ability to feed themselves in the long-term.

Taking Action

With your help, we’ve shown Congress the Jewish community’s commitment to more just food and agricultural policies. In partnership with the Jewish Farm Bill Working Group, we gathered more than 18,000 signatures on the “Jewish Petition for a Just Farm Bill” and mobilized 20 organizations to sign the "Jewish Platform for a Just Farm Bill." We delivered both to Congress and the White House and organized our supporters to spread the word. With AJWS, they have met with dozens of congressional offices in Washington, D.C., and across the country and sent countless e-mails, letters and phone calls to our policymakers.

Thanks to this hard work, our efforts are paying off. In the previous congressional session, the Senate passed a Farm Bill that contained important steps forward on food aid reform, while, an unprecedented 44 members of the House of Representatives officially endorsed international food aid reform.

Our goal is in sight, but we’ve still got a ways to go. Join us in reversing hunger!