Poll finds hunger gnaws on public concience

Social justice news
June 2003

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Poll finds hunger gnaws on public concience
With summer vacation starting in communities across the country, school cafeterias will be closing their door—and the 15 million at-risk children and their parents who depend on federally subsidized school lunches will scramble to make alternative arrangements to replace those meals.

With hunger on the rise and children at risk, a new nationwide study conducted for the Alliance to End Hunger finds that American voters want real solutions from political leaders. The study conducted by a bi-partisan group of political strategists found that seven out of ten voters support public-private partnerships to help feed children who do not receive food programs during the summer months.

Sevetny-five percent said they would approve of expanding the school breakfast program, making it similar to the National School Lunch Program, and 68 percent of voters say they would approve of creating a new summer food program similar to the National School Lunch Program.

Ninety-four percent of respondents think that it is important during these times of budget cuts and a tough economy for government to fund anti-hunger programs. Reducing hunger and poverty in the U.S. was described as the most important issue by many voters, easily outdistancing important domestic concerns like the environment and, at 7.7 percent ranking about as high as health care. Reducing world hunger alone was a surprisingly important issue, rivaling concern about moral decline as a topic. A very high 55 percent of voters said the US spends too little to reduce hunger in this country.

In the midst of budget belt-tightening and economic slowdowns, voters did not want legislators to cut anti-hunger programs. An astounding 94 percent said explicitly—despite budget cuts and tough times—it was important to keep funding programs like school lunch and WIC. The reason for concern is direct and immediate to a surprising degree. Nearly 24 percent of voters said they were personally worried that they or someone in their family could go hungry and not have enough to eat in the future. More than 43 percent of voters said there were people in their own community who go hungry.

Voters want candidates to work on the issue – 64 percent said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who cuts substantially from food stamps, and 65 percent would be more likely to vote for a candidate who makes hunger a priority.

Republicans and Democrats were represented in relatively equal proportions in the survey. Although Democrats had a slight edge over George Bush and the Republicans (35 percent to 29 percent) when asked who would be better able to reduce the hunger problem, the issue remains a good opportunity for candidates of either party.

"These poll results strengthen our resolve. We must draw a line in the sand to end child hunger," says Robert Forney, Chairman, Alliance to End Hunger. "Today, we all raise our voices to say that we will not accept this tragedy. We want to inspire our nation into action."

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