United States

Unemployment drop still leaves low skill workers behind

by Michael A. Fletcher Washington Post February 6, 2012

ROCKLEDGE, Fla. — The nation’s jobless rate has declined to its lowest level in three years, a fact that has left Jamie Bean...

As jobs go global, US workers pay

by Chrystia Freeland Reuters/New York Times February 2, 2012

NEW YORK — Mitt Romney’s thumping victory in the Florida primary this week is bringing us closer to a Romney-Obama face-off in the autumn. While we do not know for sure if Mr. Romney will clinch the Republican nomination, if he does, we can already say what the central question in November will ...

Gates Foundation gives $750 million to Global Fund to Combat AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

by David Brown Washington Post January 26, 2012

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave $750 million Thursday to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to help assure that the organization can keep supplying AIDS drugs while it seeks to adjust to the economic downturn....

Obama says nation must address inequality

by Scott Wilson and David Nakamura Washington Post January 24, 2012

President Obama warned the nation Tuesday that the decades-old promise of a secure and rising middle class is under threat because of growing disparities between the rich and everyone else in America....

Stephen Murdock in his home. In the 14 months since he lost his $11-an-hour construction job, his options have been whittled down to this morning routine of cold calls to friends and neighbors. His weekly unemployment benefits had expired. His food stamps had been trimmed to less than $50 a week. His bank account was in the red, his hot water was turned off, and he no longer had health insurance to treat a pinched nerve or bouts of depression.  As South Carolina prepares to hold its Republican primary, the economically depressed state already has revealed a definitive issue of the 2012 presidential campaign: How can government best serve a record number of jobless and poor?

For a jobless, struggling South Carolina man, reality isn’t a political debate. Entitlement society? Opportunity society? Steven Murdock sees little...

by Eli Saslow Washington Post January 19, 2012

He awoke to his alarm on Monday morning at 6, just like always, even though his handwritten schedule for the day read only: “Find something to do!” Steven Murdock, 39, poured himself a cup of coffee and rummaged through the defrosted Thanksgiving leftovers in an otherwise barren refrigerator. He...

Harder for Americans to rise from lower rungs

by Jason DeParle New York Times January 4, 2012

WASHINGTON — Benjamin Franklin did it. Henry Ford did it. And American life is built on the faith that others can do it, too: rise from humble origins to economic heights. “Movin’ on up,” George Jefferson-style, is not only a sitcom song but a civil religion....

After three decades, tax break for ethanol expires

by Robert Pear New York Times January 1, 2012

WASHINGTON — A federal tax credit for ethanol expired on Saturday, ending an era in which the federal government provided more than $20 billion in subsidies for use of the product....

American demand for year-round organic fruits and vegetables has incited a farming boom in the arid deserts of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. The explosive growth in commercial cultivation is putting stress on the water table. In some areas, wells have run dry this year, meaning that small subsistence farmers cannot grow crops.  Photo: New York Times

Organic agriculture may be outgrowing its ideals

by Elisabeth Rosenthal New York Times December 30, 2011

TODOS SANTOS, Mexico — Clamshell containers on supermarket shelves in the United States may depict verdant fields, tangles of vines and ruby red tomatoes. But at this time of year, the tomatoes, peppers and basil certified as organic by the Agriculture Department often hail from the Mexican desert...

Wealth gap widens between US Congress and constituents (Congress median wealth $750,000; constituents $20,500)

by Peter Whoriskey Washington Post December 26, 2011

BUTLER, Pa. — One day after his shift at the steel mill, Gary Myers drove home in his 10-year-old Pontiac and told his wife he was going to run for Congress....

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is now helping 46 million people afford an adequate diet

by Stacey Dean Center on Budget and Policy Priorities December 19, 2011

As other posts in this series have shown, 2011 was another tough year for low- and moderate -income families. One indicator is that over 2 million new people joined the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — SNAP, formerly known as food stamps — between January and September (the latest mo...

  • World Hunger Education
    Service
    P.O. Box 29015
    Washington, D.C. 20017
  • For the past 40 years, since its founding in 1976, the mission of World Hunger Education Service is to undertake programs, including Hunger Notes, that
    • Educate the general public and target groups about the extent and causes of hunger and malnutrition in the United States and the world
    • Advance comprehension which integrates ethical, religious, social, economic, political, and scientific perspectives on the world food problem
    • Facilitate communication and networking among those who are working for solutions
    • Promote individual and collective commitments to sustainable hunger solutions.