The Acts of Convention

Whereas, hunger and malnutrition continue to affect the lives of millions of people and cause the death of tens of thousands each year; and

Whereas, the Episcopal Church has begun to respond to the Biblical imperative to feed the hungry; and

Whereas, hunger is a complex problem with economic, political, social and cultural dimensions involving such matters as food production, distribution and consumption, land reforms and distribution, trade policies, population, international institutions and governmental policies; and

Whereas, the millions of people who are affected and oppressed by this complex problem are the poor of the world, for it is the poor anywhere who are hungry; therefore be it

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That this General Convention reaffirm this commitment of the Episcopal Church to use its resources for the alleviation of hunger and malnutrition; and be it further

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That this General Convention commend the work of the National Hunger Committee and its Network and urge this Committee and Network to develop further educational programs, materials and projects aimed at the systemic causes of hunger and malnutrition; and be it further

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That this General Convention urge those Dioceses, who have not already done so, to establish and empower a Hunger Committee; and, urge every congregation to utilize the hunger resource material developed; and, encourage members of the Episcopal Church, on the local level, to establish programs such as emergency food banks, food cooperatives, programs on lifestyle assessment and evaluation; and commend every member of the Episcopal Church to participate in ecumenical organizations and agencies such as Bread for the World, The Inter-Religious Taskforce on U.S. Food Policy, IMPACT, and Church World Service; and be it further

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That the General Convention encourage members of the Episcopal Church to be aware of and active in the legislative process formulation of food policy; and be it further

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That the General Convention instruct the National Hunger Committee to coordinate and to provide resources for local hunger programs and projects and communicate these to the Church and present a full report on the scope and effectiveness of these Churchwide efforts to the 67th General Convention of this Church.