Reflections on the Presidential Commission on World Hunger

Abstract

In September 1978, then President Jimmy Carter appointed a twenty-member Commission on World Hunger. The commission's mandate was to identify the basic causes of hunger at home and abroad, to assess programs and policies affecting hunger, and to recommend (and publicize) specific actions to create a coherent national policy. The group had bipartisan political support, and four of its members were from Congress.1 Unlike previous commissions of food and agriculture, however, representation from economists and agricultural scientists was quite limited. Although this was both a strength and weakness of the commission, it had the unfortunate consequence of involving fewer professional groups than might have been desirable. In part, therefore, this essay is an after-the-fact (and slightly expurgated) report to agricultural economists on what happened. Because the entire commission Report is readily available, I will not summarize its findings, although a number of recommendations from the Report are highlighted.2 The many changes (including the presidency) that have occurred since the commission reported formally in March 1980 suggest instead the need for a critical appraisal of the Report and for comments on possible next steps for the United States in the field of hunger alleviation. Dimensions of the Hunger Problem