Let's cut hunger in half.

If we only had the will, the U.S. could find a way to overcome the scandal of hunger both at home and abroad. And Christians, says Bread for the World president David Beckmann, could do a lot more to make that happen.

MOST PEOPLE IMAGINE that dramatically reducing world hunger is an impossible dream. But the truth is, the United States could cut hunger in half in this country within two years do our part to cut hunger in half worldwide within two decades. At $6 billion per year, doing both would take less than one third of 1 percent of the federal budget--costing us only pennies a day.

The world has already made progress against hunger. There are fewer undernourished people in the developing world today than there were 25 years ago, despite the population explosion. But more than 800 million people around the world still suffer from chronic hunger, and hunger has increased in Africa. And among the industrialized countries, the United States is the only nation that still puts up with widespread hunger: 31 million people in the United States still struggle to put food on the table.

It is time for the U.S. government to assume a leadership role in overcoming hunger, both at home and worldwide. The persistence of hunger in this country is shocking, particularly in the current extraordinary economy. Many people are getting rich these days, and in general, low-income people also are facing a better job market than in the past.

At the same time, those involved with food pantries and soup kitchens have been providing more and more food to hungry people every year. They're not seeing any decline in hunger. U.S. census data confirm that the number of people struggling with hunger hasn't declined at all over the last several years of prosperity.

How can this be? A booming economy, booming charity, but no decline in hunger?

It's no mystery. Since 1996, millions of people have lost government assistance, notably food stamps. If just the Food Stamp Program were as strong now as it was in 1996, in today's economy we'd have half as many hungry people as we do.

Once the federal government decides to act, it would take only a year or two to cut hunger in half simply by strengthening existing nutrition programs. Needed improvements in the national nutrition programs would cost about $5 billion per year, amounting to $18 for each person in this country about the cost of an entree in a nice restaurant.

The most important of these programs are the Food Stamp Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and the school breakfast and lunch programs.

As the first line of defense against hunger, the Food Stamp Program for low-income people is the primary federal nutrition assistance program, reaching nearly 20 million people. Food stamps help eligible people buy more and nutritionally better food than they could otherwise.

We don't need to create new programs. Simple changes in and providing greater access to existing domestic programs would go a long way toward ending hunger.

ONE OF TEN-HEARD ARGUMENT AGAINST GOVERNMENT assistance is that churches and charities should carry most of the weight of helping hungry and poor people. But churches and charities simply cannot meet all the needs of hungry and poor people in our country.

If the 258,000 religious congregations in this country--Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, or otherwise--were asked to cover the cost of just three existing government programs--welfare for families, disability payments for poor people, and food stamps--every single congregation would need to raise an additional $300,000 every year to help those in need. Our government simply must do its part.

At the 1996 World Food Summit, the nations of the world agreed to cut hunger in half worldwide by 2015. Many developing countries are gradually reducing the extent of undernutrition. But to meet the World Food Summit goal, the industrialized countries need to increase poverty-focused assistance by about $5 billion annually. The U.S. share of this international initiative to cut world hunger in half would be about $1 billion annually. That's equivalent to one penny per day per American.

When Bread for the World's 45,000 members and member churches ask their representatives in Congress for aid to poor people in poor countries, they often run into questions about whether the money will be well-spent. With good reason: Most foreign aid hasn't helped poor people. But most foreign aid wasn't even intended to help poor people. It was designed mainly to win friends during the Cold War, support Israel and Middle East peace, or promote business and foreign policy interests.

But foreign aid focused specifically on reducing poverty has often worked. Now that the Cold War is over, official aid agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Bank are focusing more on poverty reduction and grassroots participation. Most important, democracy and economic pragmatism have become much more prevalent throughout the developing world.

Under these circumstances, it is feasible to mount an international effort that would accelerate progress against hunger. Poor countries--especially the families who struggle every day to find food for themselves--will do most of what it takes to overcome world hunger.

But the United States and the rich countries can certainly make it easier. We should fully implement the international debt relief initiative and further reform the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization. We should also increase nonmilitary, poverty-focused development assistance, especially for agriculture, AIDS, education for girls, and democratic governance.

Small amounts of money--by U.S. standards--can go a long way in Africa. For example, $1,000 can set up a village school, and $500 a year can pay a school teacher. These investments would allow all the children in a village, including the girls, to go to school, and teaching girls to read will soon improve agriculture, family life, and nutrition.

THE BEST WAYS TO REDUCE HUNGER ALSO REDUCE POVERTY and powerlessness. So if we can get the nations of the world to mobilize against hunger, we'll achieve progress against poverty and injustice generally.

But what can ordinary citizens really do about all this? Actually, it turns out, a whole lot.

Take the folks in Birmingham, Alabama, for example. Last year their representative, Spencer Bachus, was named chair of the international subcommittee of the House Banking Committee. Bachus, a conservative, was not very familiar with poor countries or their problems. But then Bread for the World members in his district, who had started to talk with him about hunger issues, really went to work. Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church put out a petition after each Mass one Sunday, and a group from another church flew to Washington with that petition to see Bachus. They spoke from their hearts, and Bachus was moved. In fact, he became a passionate and very effective advocate for debt cancellation.

When the House Banking Committee held its hearing on debt relief, Bachus, a Southern Baptist, held up an address by Pope John Paul II. He said, "I've never read much by Catholics before, but I don't know how any Christian could read this and not think we ought to write off these debts. If we don't reduce this debt, people in poor countries are going to be suffering for the rest of their lives. And I think we are going to be suffering a lot longer than that."

Bachus and other members of Congress helped to persuade President Clinton to support debt relief, which in turn was instrumental in its becoming global policy.

THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE, GOD CALLS US TO SEEK JUSTICE for hungry and poor people. This message--that we could cut hunger in half in this country within two years and globally within two decades--feels to me like a word of God. When the prophet Isaiah received a word from God, it felt like a coal in his mouth, a burning word that must be spoken.

Will the United States and other nations seize this wonderful opportunity? That depends mainly on whether individuals--people like you and me--dedicate some of our time, resources, and citizen influence to the cause of justice for hungry people. Few of us feel up to the job of turning the course of human history. Isaiah felt entirely inadequate to see the vision he was given. But the angel who touched the coal to Isaiah's lips assured him that God would use him, despite his shortcomings, to deliver a world-shaking message to his neighbors and nation.

Hunger is one problem we can actually solve. But churches and charities can't do it all. We must get our government to do its part.

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By the REV. DAVID BECKMANN, president of Bread for the World, an interdenominational Christian citizens' movement against hunger.