Presbyterian Hunger Program

THE PRESBYTERIAN HUNGER Program (PHP) is described as “a ministry of the Presbyterian Church (USA), [which] works to alleviate hunger and eliminate [Page 868]its causes, responding with compassion and justice to poor and hungry people in local communities in the United States and internationally.” Supporters contribute to the PHP through both the yearlong Hunger Fund and the One Great Hour of Sharing campaign. Donations total approximately $4 million annually and are used for direct food aid, strategic grant making, and provision and dissemination of information in print and through the internet. Other areas of activity include policy advocacy, participatory activities, and lifestyle integrity. Though they come from specifically nominated collections, PHP funds are ring-fenced against budget cutting and are much more likely, therefore, to be spent on the activities for which they were gathered.

The PHP was established in 1981 and is guided by the Common Affirmation on Global Hunger (1979, amended 1987 and 1999). The affirmation notes that “the crisis of world hunger is of such proportions that it will be with us for decades to come; the gap is widening, not only between the rich and poor countries, but also between the rich and poor within both developed and developing nations and world hunger is one of the key issues with which humankind must deal for global survival in the last decade of the twentieth century.”

Facing these issues, the affirmation calls on its adherents to use their spiritual beliefs to guide their responses: “That God our Creator has made the world for everyone, and desires that all shall have daily bread. That God has been at work through history, even as evidenced in those mighty acts on behalf of the people of Israel to liberate the poor and oppressed that they may serve and glorify their Maker with their whole life. That God's prophets through the ages have pronounced judgment upon those who exploit and neglect the poor and the hungry. That Jesus Christ our Savior identified with the world's poor and came to announce good news to them. That the Holy Spirit is at work in the church, calling us to embody our Savior's compassion and struggle for justice on the earth. That God seeks the reconciliation of peoples and nations whereby the cries of the hungry and oppressed shall be answered.”

In other words, the PHP is based on a religiously inspired belief in the fundamental equality of humanity and that individuals are bound to act to reduce hunger as an integral part of those beliefs.

Special programs of the PHP include Joining Hands against Hunger, which aims to build bridges between religious and nonreligious organizations to raise awareness of growing inequalities arising from globalization; the Food and Faith Initiative, which aims to bring about food systems that are socially just for religious reasons; the Campaign for Fair Food (formerly Taco Bell Boycott), which works to promote ethical behavior in corporate buying practices; and Enough for Everyone and Just Trade, which help to promote awareness of fair-trade issues and their consequences. These programs require comment on international trade deals and institutional arrangements as, for example, in the stance taken against free-trade agreements. Politics and religion, therefore, become intertwined.

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