Podcast Directory

Episodes

AIDS-related deaths in Uganda have orphaned 1.2 million children, according to UNAIDS. St. Francis Health Care Services, a clinic not far from the source of the Nile River in Uganda, is helping grandmothers care for their orphaned children. Faustine Ngarambe, St. Francis's founder and executive director, tells us about the clinic's grandmothers program.

Music this month is by Nikita Cherkasov and Evgeny Emelyanov.

U.S. food and farm policies are in need of revamping. So this month we talk with Todd Post, editor of Bread for the World Institute’s 2012 Hunger Report, about why people should care about these policies, the importance of nutrition programs, and the generosity of one particular farmer he met. The Hunger Report will be released on November 21, 2011 on www.hungerreport.org.

Music this month by Lovira.

David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, spoke to First Coast Connect on WJCT Florida about the rising poverty numbers in Florida, and why Congress needs to create a circle of protection around programs for hungry and poor people as they look to address the budget deficit.

Amelia Kagan, senior policy analyst at Bread for the World, spoke to The Voice of Russia about why Congress needs to create a circle of protection around programs for hungry and poor people as they look to address the budget deficit.

School food gets a bad rap, but one U.S. school district is working to change that. Alisa Booze Troetschel, Bread for the World's multimedia intern, brings us the story. Music is by Lena Selyanina.

Congress passed a debt deal but we still need to protect federal programs that help vulnerable people. Breadcast recently spoke with Ched Myers about Sabbath economics. It's the concept of applying the Biblical Sabbath to modern economics so wealth is more equitably distributed. Myers is a theologian at Bartimaeus Ministries in California.

Music this month is from I Am Not Lefthanded.

Eating fresh, locally grown food has become a bit of a healthy obsession in the United States. One small slice of this eat-local movement is the Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction, which started seven years ago because growers wanted a central, local place to sell their produce. Buyers drive from as far as four hours away to purchase just-harvested squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables. Buyers get fresh produce and growers — most of whom are Mennonite— get a guaranteed market that helps sustain their family-oriented life.

This month's music is from david.

Over two-thirds of the population in Uganda works in agriculture, according to the OECD. Yet this East African nation still has high rates of malnutrition and food insecurity: one out of five people is undernourished and two out of five children are malnourished, according to a recent USAID report. Dr. Dorothy Nakimbugwe, a food technology and nutrition professor at Makerere University in Kampala, recently talked with us about Uganda’s situation and what is being done. Makerere University teams up with Iowa State University and VEDCO, a Ugandan NGO, on agriculture projects around Uganda. You can learn more about the three groups' work at www.vedcouganda.org.

This month's music is by Bravadúnia.

More than half of American farmers work other jobs to make ends meet, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These farmers enjoy raising animals or growing food. Denise and Tom Peterson are two such people. They run Blue Door Garden, a fruit, vegetable, and flower farm in southwestern Virginia, near the border with North Carolina and Tennessee. They also work for Appalachian Sustainable Development, a nonprofit that helps small farmers and educates the community about farming and local foods. In this Breadcast episode, Denise and Tom talk about why they farm (they find potatoes particularly magical) and how they help small farmers.

Music by Josh Woodward.

What are the nation's leaders doing to help hungry and poor people in the U.S. and abroad? Earlier today David Beckmann appeared on The Kojo Nnamdi Show, where he discussed this issue in relation to global food security, his recent fast and the implications of the potential budget cuts. Also on the show: Dan Glickman, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

"All the programs the help hungry and poor people - if you include the programs that help poor people in our country or hungry people in our country, it's still not a big part of the federal budget. They did not cause this deficit." -David Beckmann

Fasting is a spiritual discipline mentioned frequently in the Bible. Ambassador Tony Hall, head of the Alliance to End Hunger, is fasting to focus attention on Congress's plan to cut federal programs that reduce poverty and hunger in the United States and around the world. He is joined in his fast by Bread for the World's David Beckmann, New York Times columnist Mark Bittman, and Women Thrive Worldwide founder Ritu Sharma. We spoke with Tony about 24 hours after his fast began.

Also in this episode: An interview with Father Peter Henriot, a priest who has worked in Zambia since 1989. He talked with us about advocacy and how people can get involved with issues they care about. Do you want to become a stronger advocate for hungry and poor people? Join us at our biennial Gathering this June, where hundreds of people from across the United States will learn about advocacy.

Music this month is courtesy of Deo Gratias. Photograph by Curt Fleenor.

Foreign assistance is less than 1 percent of the United States budget. Yet Congress is looking to cut it at a time of rising food prices and unrest in countries that depend on food aid. Why do we need foreign assistance and food aid? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently said food aid cuts will adversely affect U.S. national security and will damage U.S. leadership around the world. This month we discuss the issue with Mannik Sakayan, Bread for the World's senior policy analyst.

Music this month is by Soul Surprise.

When was the last time you wrote a handwritten letter? Here at Bread we just launched our 2011 Offering of Letters campaign, which gives you an opportunity to write letters on behalf of poor and hungry people.

But how do you go about writing these letters? On this month's podcast, Mandy Wrinkle and Marco Grimaldo, Bread's organizers for the Mid-Atlantic and Central Southern states, discuss their work in putting together Offering of Letters workshops. Molly Marsh, Bread's managing editor, talks about some of the stories she wrote for the Offering of Letter handbook. And then Monica Mills, Bread's government relations director, gives us a legislative update.

Finally, don't miss hearing instrumental music by Nine Inch Nails.

There's a strong link between migration and poverty, as we learn during an interview with Andrew Wainer, Bread's immigration policy analyst, and a talk with Susan Bird of the Ford Foundation in Mexico.

"What we see more and more is this: the right of passage, this idea that young people specifically can no longer make it in their communities. And so they kind of wait for the day they can leave." -Susan Bird, Ford Foundation

This month's legislative update by Jim McDonald, Bread's managing director, recaps all that happened during the not-so-lame-duck Congressional session and looks forward to all that we can expect in 2011.

Finally, don't miss the song "Can You Hear Me?" by Kevin Driscoll, a Baltimore-Washington area musician known for his musical experience, enthusiasm on stage and love of blues, rock and roots music.

About twenty years ago, Robert Egger had to be dragged to his first volunteer experience serving food to poor people. Now he runs DC Central Kitchen, a non-profit that turns leftover food into meals for at-risk people, and provides job training and employment for people overcoming homelessness, addiction and incarceration.

There's food being thrown away but we shouldn't waste people either. Food, money, future, love, potential - those are the things that are really invaluable.
-Robert Egger, Founder and President, DC Central Kitchen

Robert talks with Bread for the World about the "calculated epiphany," the power of consumers and why he wants to put a food cart in front of the World Bank's headquarters in Washington DC.

Then Kristen Youngblood, Bread's associate press secretary, talks about what Bread President David Beckmann has been up to lately. (Hint: It's related to his new book "Exodus from Hunger".)

Finally, don't miss singing along to Future of Forestry's version of "Angels We Have Heard on High" from their just-released album Advent Christmas EP, Vol. 2.

On this month's Breadcast, Monica Mills, Bread's government relations director, discusses the U.S. midterm election results in her Legislative Minute. "The issues that we work on really have no party," says Mills. Next, learn about Bread's new Hunger Report (out on Nov. 22) during a Q&A with its senior editor, Todd Post. And in our Breadcast Interview, we talk with an environmentalist working to reforest Haiti: Timote Georges, Haiti program coordinator for Trees for the Future.

Finally, don't miss hearing Andrew McKnight's song "Good Things Matter," a winner in the Great American Song Contest.

On this month's podcast, we hold a Q&A with Bread policy analysts Amelia Kegan and Christine Melendez on the new U.S. Census poverty statistics. Then Monica Mills, our director of government relations, relates what's happening on the Hill during her Legislative Minute. Finally, our Breadcast Interview is with Andrew Wainer, Bread's immigration policy analyst, who tells us about Bread's new focus on the hunger and poverty that fuels illegal immigration.

Finally, don't miss hearing the song "The Last Word" by Father Mike Joly, pastor of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Yorktown, VA.

What if you could end world hunger? How would you go about helping the 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty? You'll find answers to these questions and more in the new book Exodus From Hunger, by David Beckmann, Bread for the World's president.

This month, Beckmann talks to Breadcast about why he wrote the book and offers individual steps people can take to end hunger. "Advocacy--smart, thoughtful, prayerful advocacy by people who live in this country--can change Congress and move the world. The main thing I want people to do is help us change the politics of poverty," he says.

Plus, listen to the song "Give a Little," by Anna Gilbert.

Brian Duss, the man behind the machine here on Breadcast, looks back at his favorite episodes. Highlights include an interview on Zambia, “man on the street” interviews about foreign aid, and the music for this spring's podcasts.

Also, Monica Mills, Bread’s director of government relations, tells us about the importance of the August recess for talking to your member of Congress.

For videos of the music from Zehnder check out One Fluid Flow and Any Day.

There's a lot going on at Bread for the World, and it's all here in Breadcast. To begin, a first-time hunger lobbyist, Virginia Ann Jordan, talks about her visit to her member of Congress during Bread for the World's annual Lobby Day. "One of the coolest things was that I was able to meet with my congressman and put my faith into action."

Then hear from David Beckmann, Bread's president, about winning the World Food Prize; listen to Rush Limbaugh tell kids to go dumpster diving if they're hungry; and learn about the new Hunger-Free Communities grant program. Plus, listen to music from the DC band the Cascade.

Esther, a Los Angeles mother, learned the hard way that paying a company to prepare her tax returns meant she lost hundreds of dollars in fees. “I had no idea how much money they were taking from me,” she said.

But after receiving help with her taxes at a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site, she said she almost cried. “With the extra money I saved, I was able to pay bills, buy clothes for my kids, and I finally finished paying off my car.”

Hear more of her story, plus our legislative update and music from Haitian Sanba Kocky.

Hungry kids have a hard time learning, fighting off disease, and thriving.

That’s why our child nutrition programs -- school lunches and breakfasts, summer feeding programs, and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program -- are so critical, says Ellen Teller, director of government affairs for the Food Research and Action Center.

Listen in for the latest update on the Child Nutrition Bill now moving through Congress.

The “Tax Man” cometh this season — and that’s a good thing. Monica Mills, Bread’s director of government relations, tells us about the two tax credits Bread is focused on this year and why they’re crucial for low-income working families. And we’ve got the perfect tune for you — a bluegrass version of the Beatles’ “Taxman,” by the band Nickel Creek.

If tax policy makes your eyes glaze over, help has arrived. Bread policy analyst Rachel Black demystifies the Earned Income Tax Credit -- it’s the largest anti-poverty program in the country, and it just happens to be administered through the tax code.

“We have to address the poverty that causes hunger,” Black says. “Tax policies that support families who work are an important way of doing this.”

Keep listening for a legislative update from Monica Mills, Bread’s director of government relations, and music from Tiffany Thompson.

Field organizers talk about foreign aid reform, music from Joy Ike and our legislative update.

Peter Howard from Food for the Hungry talks about the power of development as a diplomatic tool, music from Kimya Dawson, and our legislative update.

Bread founder Art Simon, the Watoto Children’s Choir from Uganda, senior staff for the house foreign affairs committee, Diana Ohlbaum, and our legislative update.

Wall Street Journal reporter Roger Thurow, an essay from Nicaragua, music from Bread for the World’s Gathering 2009 and our legislative update.